Boys Swim State Preview
Anders Pearson
As the Swim Team heads into the State Championship, let's take a look back on the past few weeks of post season competition.
The first weekend of February, Garfield competed at the Metro League Championship swim meet. Out of 16 teams, Garfield finished 4th overall, nearly losing to Roosevelt. Metros is one of the fastest meets of the year, and many Garfield swimmers went best times and qualified for Districts or State. The 200 medley relay finished 4th, and qualified for State. The 400 free relay also finished 4th, and crushed the State qualifying time by almost five seconds.
At Metros there were also several individual State qualifiers: Vincent Pham qualified in the 100 fly and 100 backstroke, Parik Kukreja dropped over 10 seconds from prelims to get his qualifying time in the 500 free, and Anders Pearson qualified for the 100 freestyle.
The previous weekend at Districts, Garfield held back in preparation for State. Unlike many other sports, to qualify for State in swimming the qualifying time must be swum once, at any meet throughout the year. So many swimmers chose to go easy at Districts and rest for State.
But there were still some outstanding performances from Garfield swimmers: Yosef Gared and Ben Bryant both stepped up at Districts, helping Garfield score some points. Their swims were also incredibly important for relay eligibility at State, due to unforeseen events that could have disqualified multiple State-bound relays.
This coming Friday and Saturday, Garfield will compete at King County Aquatics Center, against the best swimmers in Washington. Because the Metro League is so competitive already, almost all of our relays and swimmers are seeded top 10 going into State. Spectators will be allowed this weekend, and are encouraged to come and show support.
The first weekend of February, Garfield competed at the Metro League Championship swim meet. Out of 16 teams, Garfield finished 4th overall, nearly losing to Roosevelt. Metros is one of the fastest meets of the year, and many Garfield swimmers went best times and qualified for Districts or State. The 200 medley relay finished 4th, and qualified for State. The 400 free relay also finished 4th, and crushed the State qualifying time by almost five seconds.
At Metros there were also several individual State qualifiers: Vincent Pham qualified in the 100 fly and 100 backstroke, Parik Kukreja dropped over 10 seconds from prelims to get his qualifying time in the 500 free, and Anders Pearson qualified for the 100 freestyle.
The previous weekend at Districts, Garfield held back in preparation for State. Unlike many other sports, to qualify for State in swimming the qualifying time must be swum once, at any meet throughout the year. So many swimmers chose to go easy at Districts and rest for State.
But there were still some outstanding performances from Garfield swimmers: Yosef Gared and Ben Bryant both stepped up at Districts, helping Garfield score some points. Their swims were also incredibly important for relay eligibility at State, due to unforeseen events that could have disqualified multiple State-bound relays.
This coming Friday and Saturday, Garfield will compete at King County Aquatics Center, against the best swimmers in Washington. Because the Metro League is so competitive already, almost all of our relays and swimmers are seeded top 10 going into State. Spectators will be allowed this weekend, and are encouraged to come and show support.