By Akane Fujimura
Alaska State Swim and Dive Championships took place in Bartlett on November 4th and 5th and many swimmers broke school records.
The boys 200yd free relay team (Kyle Wentz, Nathanael Hardy, James Reid and Richard Ginter) broke the school record with a time of 1:30.11, earning 1st place which they already broke at the Region meet.
Marie Schmidt also broke the school record in the 500yd free with a time of 5:22.51, earning 4th place. “I was pretty happy because it was my goal since sophomore year to break the school record. Especially this State Championship, it was the last time to swim in my high school career,” Marie stated with a big smile after the meet.
Richard Ginter, who broke his own school record in the 50yd free with a time of 21:82, earning 1st place, said “I broke the school record my senior year, which was cool, and couldn’t ask for anything more. Well if I did, I’ll be a selfish.”
Four boys and two girls swimmers made it to State and the boys took 5th place in the 200yd medley relay. Nathanael Hardy took 4th place in 100yd breast and 5th place in 50yd free, James Reid took 8th place in 100yd breast, Richard Ginter added a 2nd place in 100yd fly, Dana Olesch took 8th place in the 100yd fly.
“State was definitely great and I had a lot of fun,” said Nathanael Hardy. Richard Ginter agreed with his teammate. “It was an amazing meet and we all did our best.”
There were also three boys and three girls divers who went to State, Lindsey Seneff took 3rd place, Garrett Hall took 5th place, Brian Rowe took 8th place and Jasmine Lewis took 8th place each in 1-meter diving events.