Pool boys take fourth

Blair's Division I Champion boys' swimming and diving team placed seventh at Metros with 99 points. The girls' team did not score.

The boys put up points in the 200-yard medley relay, the 100-yard backstroke, the 100-yard breaststroke, the 100-yard butterfly and the 200-yard freestyle relay. The medley team placed fourth, beating all other public schools at the meet.

In backstroke, senior Ian MacKinnon placed third and senior Tom Johnson placed thirteenth, together earning 20 points for the Blazers. MacKinnon was touched out for second place, but he split a 53.23.

Blair placed eighth in the 200-yard freestyle relay, in which sophomore Patrick Detzner split an impressive 22.93. Coach David Swaney was pleased with Detzner's performance and said that this year's sophomores will soon make a powerful team. "Detzner had a surprisingly good performance at Metros," said Swaney. "Two years from now, when our sophomores are seniors, we're going to be good."

However, Swaney expected the boys to place higher. "I had hoped we would've done a little better," he said. The Blazers didn't have their depth to their advantage at Metros, though, because only the top swimmers scored points.

The Blazers were missing senior Pete Johnson in four freestyle events. Johnson was prohibited from participating in swimming or diving competitions after he was ejected from the Montgomery County diving championship meet on Feb 14. The punishment came after Johnson and three seniors from other MCPS high schools jumped into the pool screaming, "Seniors!" and splashed the judges. The competition was over, but the boys were given zeroes and barred from diving or swimming in the rest of the postseason.

Due to inclement weather, the results from Counties have not yet been released.

Swaney was disappointed that Johnson's chance at winning Counties were dashed, and he felt the officials were harsh. "The punishment was a bit of an overreaction," he said.