Boys Swim State Recap
Anders Pearson
The Garfield Bulldogs Winter Swim Team finished strong this season with four top eight finishes at State and an overall placing of 11th.
The WIAA 3A Boys Swim and Dive State Championship is a long, grueling meet held at KCAC in Federal Way, and is filled with the top swimmers from all of Washington. After a week of rest and unwavering focus, Garfield stepped onto the pool deck ready to race on the Friday before mid-winter break. Teams from all over shuffled in; unlike many other sports, swimming does not require an entire team to qualify for State, so over 45 teams were present and competing at State.
The Friday session of State is a prelims session, meaning that the top 16 swims in each event will advance to Finals on Saturday. Garfield raced in the very first event, the 200 medley relay. The team was seated 11th going into State, comfortably in a B final spot (16th-9th), but were hungry for an A final (top 8).
Garfield began the 200 Medley Relay with a great start, as backstroker Vincent Pham competed with the top seeds. Going into Breastroke, Jaden Ma, a sophomore, held his own against bigger and older swimmers. Ian Tran held up a strong 3rd leg in Butterfly, and Anders Pearson managed to sneak his hand on the wall for a 8th place finish, and an A final spot.
Vincent Pham swam four total events at State including two relays and two individuals. As well as the Medley, Vincent swam the 100 Backstroke and 100 Butterfly, and swam the anchor leg of the 400 Free Relay. In his 100 Butterfly, Vincent took a top B final spot with an overall placing of 10th at Prelims. In his 100 Backstroke, Vincent clawed his way into the A final with an 8th place time.
Parik Kukreja swam two events, one individual and one relay. Besides the 400 Freestyle Relay, Parik swam the hefty distance event, the 500 Freestyle. Despite being the longest race, Parik managed to keep fans on their toes for the entirety of his 5 minute swim. Dropping almost 4 seconds, Parik smashed his original seating and attained an 8th place
position at Prelims.
Anders Pearson swam three events, one individual and two relays. In his lone individual event, the 100 Freestyle, Anders managed to drop close to a full second, setting a new best time and landing a 6th place spot going into finals.
The final event of prelims, the 400 Freestyle relay, was a highly anticipated event but unfortunately after a long day of swimming, the Garfield Team dropped a few spots to enter finals in 11th, the B final.
Finals took place the very next day, Saturday February 19th. With four A final swims including one relay, and two B final swims including the other relay, Garfield was ready to rumble.
Despite dropping more time in the 200 Medley Relay, Garfield finished in 8th place, still a respectable finish considering Garfield races directly against swim powerhouses like Mercer Island and Bellevue.
Vincent Pham fought tooth and nail in his 100 Butterfly, and finished 12th overall. In his 100 Backstroke, Vincent performed better finishing 8th. Because he’s a junior and still has one more year to go, he plans to train even harder in the off season and come back looking for a top five spot.
Parik Kukreja managed to create an even more interesting swim at Finals in the 500 free, hanging less than a second behind the 5th place spot going into the last leg of the race. As the stadium lit up, his muscles failed him and he finished 8th, but still dropped time and set a new personal best.
Anders Pearson was seeded the highest out of all Garfield swimmers with a 6th place seed in the 100 Freestyle. But he was sandwiched between other top competitors, meaning it was very easy to move from 6th to 4th, or 6th to 8th. In a lightning fast race Pearson managed to hold onto a 7th place spot, losing 6th place by .02 seconds, but setting a new Garfield record of 47.72, .02 seconds faster than the previous 100 Freestyle record.
The final race of the year, the 400 Freestyle Relay, was a tough race that came down to less than a second. Garfield finished 11th, remaining in their prelims position.
After a long hard season, Garfield broke many of the expectations set for the team at the beginning of the year. With no true all-star swimmer, every member picked up the slack and contributed throughout the entire season. The team's new coach, Brennon Ham, was a swimmer and parent favorite, and he says he would like to return and coach the girls team next winter. Next year's Captains will be decided soon and will join Parik Kukreja, this year's Junior Captain. Parik hopes to lead the team to new heights and leave a lasting legacy on Garfield Sports.
The WIAA 3A Boys Swim and Dive State Championship is a long, grueling meet held at KCAC in Federal Way, and is filled with the top swimmers from all of Washington. After a week of rest and unwavering focus, Garfield stepped onto the pool deck ready to race on the Friday before mid-winter break. Teams from all over shuffled in; unlike many other sports, swimming does not require an entire team to qualify for State, so over 45 teams were present and competing at State.
The Friday session of State is a prelims session, meaning that the top 16 swims in each event will advance to Finals on Saturday. Garfield raced in the very first event, the 200 medley relay. The team was seated 11th going into State, comfortably in a B final spot (16th-9th), but were hungry for an A final (top 8).
Garfield began the 200 Medley Relay with a great start, as backstroker Vincent Pham competed with the top seeds. Going into Breastroke, Jaden Ma, a sophomore, held his own against bigger and older swimmers. Ian Tran held up a strong 3rd leg in Butterfly, and Anders Pearson managed to sneak his hand on the wall for a 8th place finish, and an A final spot.
Vincent Pham swam four total events at State including two relays and two individuals. As well as the Medley, Vincent swam the 100 Backstroke and 100 Butterfly, and swam the anchor leg of the 400 Free Relay. In his 100 Butterfly, Vincent took a top B final spot with an overall placing of 10th at Prelims. In his 100 Backstroke, Vincent clawed his way into the A final with an 8th place time.
Parik Kukreja swam two events, one individual and one relay. Besides the 400 Freestyle Relay, Parik swam the hefty distance event, the 500 Freestyle. Despite being the longest race, Parik managed to keep fans on their toes for the entirety of his 5 minute swim. Dropping almost 4 seconds, Parik smashed his original seating and attained an 8th place
position at Prelims.
Anders Pearson swam three events, one individual and two relays. In his lone individual event, the 100 Freestyle, Anders managed to drop close to a full second, setting a new best time and landing a 6th place spot going into finals.
The final event of prelims, the 400 Freestyle relay, was a highly anticipated event but unfortunately after a long day of swimming, the Garfield Team dropped a few spots to enter finals in 11th, the B final.
Finals took place the very next day, Saturday February 19th. With four A final swims including one relay, and two B final swims including the other relay, Garfield was ready to rumble.
Despite dropping more time in the 200 Medley Relay, Garfield finished in 8th place, still a respectable finish considering Garfield races directly against swim powerhouses like Mercer Island and Bellevue.
Vincent Pham fought tooth and nail in his 100 Butterfly, and finished 12th overall. In his 100 Backstroke, Vincent performed better finishing 8th. Because he’s a junior and still has one more year to go, he plans to train even harder in the off season and come back looking for a top five spot.
Parik Kukreja managed to create an even more interesting swim at Finals in the 500 free, hanging less than a second behind the 5th place spot going into the last leg of the race. As the stadium lit up, his muscles failed him and he finished 8th, but still dropped time and set a new personal best.
Anders Pearson was seeded the highest out of all Garfield swimmers with a 6th place seed in the 100 Freestyle. But he was sandwiched between other top competitors, meaning it was very easy to move from 6th to 4th, or 6th to 8th. In a lightning fast race Pearson managed to hold onto a 7th place spot, losing 6th place by .02 seconds, but setting a new Garfield record of 47.72, .02 seconds faster than the previous 100 Freestyle record.
The final race of the year, the 400 Freestyle Relay, was a tough race that came down to less than a second. Garfield finished 11th, remaining in their prelims position.
After a long hard season, Garfield broke many of the expectations set for the team at the beginning of the year. With no true all-star swimmer, every member picked up the slack and contributed throughout the entire season. The team's new coach, Brennon Ham, was a swimmer and parent favorite, and he says he would like to return and coach the girls team next winter. Next year's Captains will be decided soon and will join Parik Kukreja, this year's Junior Captain. Parik hopes to lead the team to new heights and leave a lasting legacy on Garfield Sports.