Class 3A swimming: Mount Rainier reaches peak

FEDERAL WAY — Mount Rainier's depth paid dividends last night as the Rams won the Class 3A/2A boys swimming title in a meet delayed 35 minutes while officials met and upheld the disqualification of a Mercer Island relay team.

Mount Rainier would have won even without the 46-point swing in the Mercer Island relay DQ. The Rams from Des Moines scored 336 points to MI's 278-1/2.

The DQ came in the 200-yard freestyle relay at the King County Aquatic Center. Mercer Island appeared to set a state and national public-school record when the scoreboard flashed the time of 1 minute, 22.98 seconds, but was disqualified. Meet referee Dick LaFave said the two judges stationed at different positions ruled independently that Mercer Island's second swimmer in the relay, Ben Easton, left before leadoff swimmer Sean Sussex touched the wall. An electronic backup device confirmed it.

Mercer Island protested, saying that the electronic device might have been off because Sussex might have missed the timing pad. Mercer Island also said their stopwatches showed Sussex arriving in 19.83 seconds, which was faster than the official board, and therefore the official timing system may have been inaccurate.

However, the committee upheld the DQ, and Islanders Coach Jeff Lowell, voted Coach of the Year by his peers, accepted it.

Mercer Island showed its relay strength in the night's final event, winning the 400 freestyle relay in 3:06.96, shattering the oldest record on the state books. The old mark of 3:07.06 was set by Wilson of Tacoma in 1983.

It still was a memorable meet for Sussex, named swimmer of the meet. He set meet records in the 100 and 200 freestyle and swam brilliantly on the 200 and 400 relays. The USC recruit won the 100 in 44.19 seconds, which was faster than the 44.62 he swam in the prelims. It had been reported that Sussex broke the all-time state record for 100 yards of 45.09 seconds set by Ugur Taner of Newport in 1990. Yesterday, state swim officials unearthed a 43.73 leadoff relay split by Taner in 1992 and said that was the fastest all-time state 100. Sussex's time remains the fastest for the 100-yard event itself.

"It was a great way to start off the night," said Sussex, who won the 200 in 1:38.21.

Mount Rainier's win was the Rams' second in three years and fourth in 14 years. The team's only victory was the in the 200 freestyle relay after MI was disqualified.

"We couldn't have done it without our divers," said Coach Rick Wertman, whose divers placed 3-4-6-11 in the event. MI's only diver was fifth.

Before the diving event, Mercer Island had jumped to an early lead as senior Markus Kaarma won the 50 free in 20.85 seconds. Kaarma also swam the freestyle leg on the Islanders relay team that opened the meet with a victory in the 200-yard medley relay in 1:37.08.

C.J. Nuess of Medical Lake won the 200 individual medley in 1:52.34 and the 100 breaststroke in 57.21.

The diving championship stayed in the Wilcox family from Bellevue High School for a sixth consecutive year as sophomore Jonathan won with a score of 454.45. His senior brother, Justin, the defending champion, was second with 420.85 points. Their older brother, Zach, won from 1998-2001.

Skyline junior Peter Wicklund was a double winner, taking the 100 butterfly in 50.3 seconds, then successfully defending 100 backstroke title in 50.45 seconds.

Another Skyline winner was junior Will Antisdale, who took the 500 free in 4:31.63.

Notes

• Before the competition started, the Seattle Prep swim team was honored as the state 3A-2A academic champions (3.74 grade-point average).

• The meet started with an unusual rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner." Mount Rainier trumpet player John Struzenberg performed it while standing on a diving platform 24 feet above the water.