Even senior captain Cameron Buckingham’s record setting time of 1:00.39 in the 100 yard backstroke could not prevent another loss for the Wet Bengals, whose record now stands at 0-5 this season.

January 28, Blake took the pool against the Damascus Swarmin’ Hornets and loss 92-77 despite the efforts of Buckingham and sophomore Alex Kim. Kim finished first in the 100 yard butterfly with a time of 59.31 and second in the 200 yard freestyle. “By senior year I promise I will be all county in the butterfly,” says Kim.

Senior Patrick McCabe, who also swam the 100 yard butterfly says, “The season was a little disappointing.” He adds, “It was tougher because we moved up a division.” However, McCabe says, “I pushed myself this year, and I found a new event that I like to swim – butterfly.”

Buckingham says of his record in the backstroke, “It really counts a lot for me personally, but it doesn’t help the team.” He adds, “We had a young team in a tougher division this year,” which contributes to the team’s record.

Sophomores Alexander Leishman and Thomas Schwartz expressed displeasure with their performances in the Damascus meet. “I felt I did alright for the first 50 yards, but after that I felt very winded,” says Leishman after swimming the 400 yard freestyle relay.

Schwartz swam his own version of a marathon while competing in the 500 yard individual freestyle. “I feel a little disappointed because I’m not as tired as I should be,” says the exhausted Schwartz.

During the diving competitions, junior Dan Anderson was Blake’s only male competitor. After three attempts, Anderson received a score of 70.60, taking third place and adding three points to the score.

Blake swam against the Quince Orchard Cougars on January 21 and suffered another defeat, losing 101-64. Again it was Kim and Buckingham leading the way as their 200 yard medley relay finished second at 1:53.28. Buckingham also finished first in the 100 yard freestyle in 51.37 and first in the 200 yard freestyle at 1:55.03.

Kim won the 100 yard butterfly in 59.59 and finished second in the 500 yard freestyle, swimming it in 5:38.703. “There are a lot of fast swimmers,” says Kim.

Freshman Matt Stevens was also apart of the second place medley relay team. Stevens continued to have a strong performance as he finished first in the 100 yard backstroke with a time of 1:01.43. Stevens was also second in the 200 yard individual medley with a time of 2:14.92.

During the diving portion of the meet Anderson was the only Bengal to dive. This time he scored 112.75 earning a second place finish and giving the Bengals four points.

This Saturday the top two swimmers in each event compete in the division 2 championships at Germantown Aquatic Center.