Camas Boys Swim Team Wins First Meet of Season

Camas, WA — The Camas High School Boys Swim Team got off to a rocking start against Kelso Wednesday night to kick off the 2013-14 season, winning the meet with 782 points. Kelso earned 312. Hockinson, which started its own program this year, also competed at the meet.

Camas Junior John Utas had an excellent night in the 50m Free event, earning a time of 25.37, which is a Washington State qualifying time. This means Utas is eligible to compete at the State meet, held in February in Federal Way, WA.

“It’s great to see this happen so early in the season,” said the team’s head coach, Mike Bemis. “I’m proud of John and the team for what they did tonight.”

The 200m Medley Relay team also earned a Washington State qualifying time of 1:53.27. The four-man team consisted of juniors Kasey Calwell, Lucas Ulmer, John Utas, and his younger brother, Tom Utas, a freshman.

Calwell is really pumped up about the new season.

“I’ve been excited about this since just after the High School State championships,” Calwell said. “It’s incredible how strong our freshman class is. We just keep getting stronger. The newcomers are working hard, and they’re competing to get on the A relay team. There’s a fourth spot open, and they’re real competitors.”

Some standout freshmen include Jeff Fadlovich, Colin Khuta, Luke Albert, and Tom Utas. There are 34 members on this year’s team.

Fadlovich has been a season club swimmer for Lacamas Swim and Sport Club, and says “our team has really bonded, and we’ve been working really hard.” Tom Utas has been swimming for six years, and Luke Albert has been swimming competitively for four years.”

Team co-captains this year are Joey Wunderlich and Xiaguang Yan. They were voted on as co-captains at the end of last season by their teammates.

“It’s going to be a good group,” added Bemis. “We have a really good strong second relay team, so we should be strong in both relays. The strong freshmen will help us on our road to State this year.”

The team has adjusted to their new daily routine of practicing from 5 am to 6:45 am. The team had to be flexible due to changes at the Lacamas Swim and Sport Club schedule.

Xiaguang Yan finishes an event.

Here’s how the meet went in other events:

Calwell won the 200m Free with a time of 2:05.70.
Ulmer won the 200m IM with a time of 2:26.43.
John Utas won the 100m Buterfly with a time of 1:08.31.
Jeff Fadlovich won the 100m Free with a time of 1:00.80. The state qualifying time is 57 seconds.
Calwell also won the 400m Free, with a time of 4:27.83.
Camas won the 200m Freestyle Relay, with a time of 1:51.55. The relay consisted of Luke Albert, Colin Kuhta, Jeff Fadlovich, and Xiaguang Yan.
Ulmer won the 100m Backstroke with a time of 1:05.
Tom Utas won the 100m Breastroke with a time of 1:16.41.

And Camas also won the 400m Freestyle Relay, with a time of 3:55.17. The relay team consisted of Calwell, Ulmer, Fadlovich, and John Utas.

The boys compete again this Saturday at Mark Morris.