Philomath swimmers ready to make splash at districts

The Philomath High School swim team heads into the 4A/3A/2A/1A Special District 4 championships at Albany Community Pool Friday and Saturday with a mix of veteran leadership, competitive relay teams and high hopes for multiple state qualifications.

Senior captains Cameron McLennan and Mason Stevens have both overcome significant adversity this season, but they’re peaking at the right time.

McLennan has battled injuries this winter and also had to work through six weeks of illness earlier in the school year .

“I had pneumonia for a couple of weeks — it’s pretty prevalent in my family, but it turns out I’m fine and we don’t know what it was,” said McLennan, who even had to get an inhaler during his illness.

Despite the setbacks, McLennan is confident heading into his specialty events. He sees the 100-yard butterfly as his best shot at returning to state in an individual event after placing sixth last year with a time of 57.49 seconds.

“I’m sitting at a 59 right now and my PR is 57,” he said. “I’m going to go and light it up in districts.”

McLennan is also competitive in the 100 breaststroke. He credits his experience for his mental preparation.

“I’d like to think I’m a vet these days — that I think I know what’s up and just staying calm and visualizing because I know it so well,” he said. “I’ve swam the 100 fly a hundred times and I know exactly what every pace is going to be or short stroke is going to be and just visualizing and knowing I’m going to win because there’s no way I can’t.”

Stevens has his own comeback story. An injury last spring derailed his progress, but he’s been steadily improving throughout this season.

“My whole motivation was trying to get back on this relay to get us to state,” he said. “I’m definitely slower than last year but I’ve dropped probably like 7 seconds from the beginning of my season … so I’m just working slowly at it to get us there.”

Stevens will compete in the 200-yard individual medley and 100 backstroke individually, with the backstroke representing his best chance at state qualification. He’s currently ranked third in the district and targeting a time of 1:04, which could earn him second place.

Relay strength

The Warriors’ relay teams also represent a possible path to state. McLennan is particularly excited about the team’s chances in both the 200-yard medley relay and 200 freestyle relay.

“The relays are smoking fast this year,” McLennan said. “We’re at about the same times but we’re super competitive this season. We could basically win the 2(00) medley and the 2(00) freestyle if we go for it. We’re about a second behind the other guys.”

The 200 medley relay features Stevens leading off with backstroke, followed by junior Lucas Brandt on breaststroke, McLennan swimming butterfly and junior Wyatt Coen anchoring with freestyle. Last season, the same first three swimmers, along with senior Alex Dye, just missed the finals at state as the seventh-place team.

Stevens knows the pressure of the leadoff position well.

“If you have a bad start — and I’ve definitely had a few in the past — it just kind of breaks the whole race,” Stevens said.

McLennan has confidence in his teammate and called Stevens a dog who puts his heart on the line to swim the best backstroke possible. “His start needs to be perfect, his stroke needs to be perfect, but Mason can do it,” he said.

Brandt typically swims well in the breaststroke leg, where teams can gain or lose significant ground. When he touches the wall, McLennan dives in to complete the butterfly before Coen brings it home.

The 200 freestyle relay features senior Blake Hauck, Coen, McLennan and Brandt.

Brandt, who practices primarily with his club team, ranks first in the district in both the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke. He was the state champion last season in the 100 breast.

Heading into districts, Brandt has a time of 2:08.50 in the 200 IM, which is more than 8 seconds faster than the second seed. In the 100 breast, he’s sitting at 1:01.44, which is more than 9 seconds faster than the No. 2 seed.

Brandt will also anchor the freestyle relay unless he opts to try breaking the 50 freestyle record.

“But I prefer having him as the anchor — he just knows how to finish really well,” PHS coach Iliana Kaiser said.

Mental preparation

With the stakes high, McLennan and Stevens have developed their own pre-race rituals and mental approaches.

Stevens tries to get plenty of sleep the night before but knows how to keep things loose on the bus ride to meets.

“I have this giant speaker and I put it in the back of the bus and we just blast all the tunes possible,” Stevens said. “Usually some Taylor Swift, some Katy Perry, Bruno Mars.”

When it’s time to compete, though, Stevens gets serious. He says a quick prayer and reminds himself that one performance won’t define his future.

“You’ve got to go at it with a positive view,” he said.

McLennan’s approach is more analytical, drawing on his deep knowledge of the sport.

“I love sports, it’s so engaging with everything that I can think about,” McLennan said. “It’s just how my body moves and because I’m so knowledgeable about the sport now, I’ve been so focused on how I feel leading up to districts. I’ve had a lot of injuries this season so I’m taking it slow and just knowing my limits and knowing what I can do to stay safe for districts.”

The two-day format of the district meet presents its own challenges. Unlike regular-season meets that wrap up in a single day, districts stretches over Friday and Saturday with several hours of competition each day.

“That second day is very tiring, especially since districts is very, very long — it’s several hours,” Stevens said. “So when you get to the last event on the last day, you’re very tired.”

As fate would have it, Stevens competes in the meet’s final event — the 400 freestyle relay.

McLennan agrees that maintaining focus and energy throughout the two days is exhausting.

“On Day 1, everybody’s there to enjoy the district events but on Day 2, this is the best that our districts has to offer and that’s when it gets exciting,” McLennan said. “Everyone here is here to win … it’s a level up.”

Other schools competing in 4A/3A/2A/1A Special District 4 are Blanchet Catholic, Cascade, Crosshill Christian, Junction City, Kennedy, Marist Catholic, North Marion, Salem Academy, Sisters, Stayton and Sweet Home.

Qualification system

Winners in each event earn automatic berths to the state championships. The remaining spots — 12 swimmers qualify in total — are filled by the next fastest times from all district meets across the state.

Philomath competes in a very competitive district, which means second-, third- and fourth-place finishers often post faster times than they might in other districts — a factor that could help Warriors qualify through at-large spots.

Kaiser believes the boys team is positioned well for a trophy finish as one of the top three teams.

“There are so many factors that go into that so I won’t be able to know for sure how we’re going to look until Friday but I think the boys have a really good shot at taking home another trophy,” she said.

The girls have a smaller roster this season, limiting their ability to compete for a team trophy despite individual talent.

“As talented as they are, we just don’t have the numbers to get the points,” Kaiser said.

As far as breakthrough swimmers this season, Kaiser mentioned foreign-exchange student Nico Mayo Carrasco, who could be a factor in the 100 and 200 freestyle races.

“In the 200, he has room to drop (time) — he’s tall and skinny and just floats on the water,” she said.

For the girls, the 200 medley relay of freshman Adelina Kowalewski, sophomore Alyssa Weeber, junior Kate Burriel and junior Emma Mecham have shown promise.

“I don’t know if they’re going to make it this year but I feel like next year would be a really good year for them,” Kaiser said. “They’re right on the cusp but they’ve been sick these past couple weeks and I think that’s getting in their heads a little bit. I’m just trying to encourage them the best that I can.”

The season marks the end of an era as the team says farewell to eight seniors and the foreign-exchange student.

For Stevens and McLennan, who has served as captain for three years, the bonds formed on the team run deep.

“I’ve never had as good of friends as I’ve had on this team,” Stevens said. “I came in freshman year and everyone was so nice and I was actually scared because of how nice people were.”

McLennan described his teammates as family.

“I’ve been a captain for three years now and knowing that these people got my back every minute of the day, it’s just so different,” McLennan said. “It’s so crucial that I can walk in the locker room and know that everyone there is there for me and they know that I’m there for them.”

Albany Community Pool is located on the campus of South Albany High School. Each day’s action is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.