Members of the Camas swim team on the podium after receiving their fourth-place team medals at the 4A state meet at Federal Way on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. (Erik Gundersen / The Columbian)Photo Gallery
FEDERAL WAY — A big day for local swimmers got even bigger Saturday during the 4A Washington State meet at the King County Aquatic Center.
The Camas Papermakers took home a trophy for the second straight season, finishing in fourth place in the state meet.
In doing so, they surpassed head coach Mike Bemis’ expectations.
“We’re really happy with it, all of us,” said sophomore Mark Kim, who took home two individual state titles in the 200 and 500 yard freestyle events. “All for our hard work during practice. Everything led up to this one meet, it’s really exciting for us to get fourth.
“Mike said he figured the best we could do was fifth and that he would be really happy for us if we did that. He said fourth was outstanding for us.”
Kim took home the 4A state championship in the 200-yard freestyle Saturday night with a time of 1 minute, 42.73 seconds to kick things off.
Kim then capped the night off with an encore, taking home first place in the 500 free with a time of 4:38.54, winning by several seconds.
“I came into this meet really hoping to win, I came in seeded first in prelims and finals,” Kim said. “But it’s a race, anything can happen. It’s really good as a sophomore to be state champ.”
Heritage’s Maksim Dolbinin took home the 50 free in the closest finish of the day, edging out the competition with a time of 21.46.
One of the swimmers that Dolbinin beat by a fingernail’s length was Camas’ Tom Utas, who came in fourth by 0.25 seconds.
Perhaps it was the nerves that gave Dolbinin the extra push in the 50.
“It was very nerve-racking,” Dolbinin said. “In prelims I was shaking on the blocks right before the race. It was hard to explain. Right before the 50 I was really nervous. And then when the music was playing I got goosebumps the entire walk, it was crazy.”
Few could see with the naked eye who won and the scoreboard gave the final verdict.
“My touch was pretty long and then I looked at the scoreboard and I screamed, it was awesome,” Dolbinin said.
“He really worked hard all year,” Heritage coach Dave Shoup said. “He really wanted it.”
Utas and Dolbinin met again in the 100 free, with Utas coming out on top, finishing second while Dolbinin finished fourth behind Newport’s Dave Makhervaks.
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