Kentwood’s Logan Ryan was fast during last week’s Class 4A swim and dive meet at the King County Aquatic Center.
Fast enough to establish a new school record in the 100-yard breaststroke. Fast enough to feel good about the numbers he put up. Yet not quite fast enough to crack the state’s top eight. Ryan, Kentwood’s lone participant at the state meet this season, created his own wake in the prelims of the 100-yard breaststroke, stopping the clock in 1:01.81.
Ryan’s time bettered that of former Kentwood standout Kyle Corcoran (1:01.96), who set the record in 2006.
Ryan followed up the blistering performance with a time of 1:02.04 in the finals, which was good enough for a 13th-place finish.
“It felt like a pretty good swim and I was really relieved when I looked up and broke the record,” said Ryan. “When I saw the time, I figured I wouldn’t get in the top eight because the field was really deep.”
Deep indeed. In fact, three of the four top times in the event were below 1:00. Snohomish’s Garren Reichel won the gold with an astounding time of 56.13.
“The 100 breaststroke was incredibly fast,” said Kentwood coach Sharon Wright. “My hopes for Logan to be top eight were based on last year’s results. There was a whole new group of guys who stepped up and swam fast. You can’t really control what other people do.”
But Ryan was able to control what he did. And what he did will go down in the Kentwood record books.
“He’ll go down in the Kentwood record books as the fastest to ever swim the breaststroke,” Wright noted.
Meanwhile, Kent-Meridian’s Matt Bailey brought home a 10th-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley, touching out in 2:01.54. Bailey added a 16th-place finish in the 500 free with a time of 5:18.73.
Neither times particularly pleased the K-M standout, who had been battling a sinus infection the two weeks leading up to the meet.
“Honestly, it was pretty bad,” said Bailey, who also competes in cross country and track for the Royals. “My head was really stuffed up and I was tired, too.”
Bailey, a junior, already remains primed for next year.
“That’s exactly how I looked at it,” he said. “I am working 360 days until next my next (state) meet.”
Kentridge also advanced a small contingent of swimmers on to the state meet. Divers Matt Drui and Quinton Wong finished 25th and 26th respectively. Meanwhile, Kentridge’s 200-free relay team (Bryan Lam, Trent Davis, Jake Dacus and Kyle Wilson) finished in 17th place with a time of 1:33.89.
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