Holmes Relishes Underdog Status

VIRGINIA BEACH, Feb. 10 -- Calling Zach Holmes an underdog when it comes to swimming would be, to put it mildly, a stretch. Holmes, a senior All-Met from Robinson with a swimming scholarship to Virginia Tech, has spent as much time recently atop the medal podium as anyone.

Holmes, however, found himself in an unfamiliar position at Saturday's Virginia AAA Swimming and Diving Championships. After a sub-par swim in the 50-meter freestyle in Friday's preliminary heat, Holmes was seeded second for the final and not projected to repeat as state champion in the event.

He relished the position because it gave him something to prove. "It's cooler to be the underdog," he said.

With that mind-set, Holmes stormed through the pool at the Bayside Recreation Center to win the 50 freestyle in 23.84 seconds, 0.36 of a second faster than top-seeded Marshall Daniels of Ocean Lakes. Holmes also won the 100 freestyle title and swam on two victorious relays to lead Robinson to its fifth consecutive state title, 274-158, over second-place Oakton.

On the girls' side, Yorktown won its second straight championship despite not having an individual winner in a swimming event. The Patriots edged second-place Fairfax, 249.5-218.

Holmes had difficulty adjusting Friday to the pool here, which is measured in meters instead of yards, the measurement used for high school competition in Northern Virginia.

When Holmes swims a typical 50-yard race, he goes the first 25 yards without taking a breath and allows himself one breath during the final 25. On Friday, however, Holmes took two breaths because the race was longer than what he is accustomed. In Saturday's final, Holmes reverted to his one-breath approach and was more comfortable on his turns.

"I said: 'Screw it. I have to do what I'm used to,' " Holmes said.

Behind Holmes, Robinson junior Derek Bui successfully defended his state 100 breaststroke title. The Rams also swept all three relays.

Yorktown positioned itself to win the girls' title with a masterful performance during Friday's preliminaries. The Patriots sent eight swimmers and two divers to Saturday's finals and scored in 10 of 12 events.

"They swam out of their minds," Coach Dave Lassiter said.

Patriots sophomore Maren Taylor won the one-meter diving competition with 420.93 points. After winning last season's Northern Region diving championship, she did not contribute to Yorktown's state meet victory because she dislocated her elbow in a gymnastics accident. Her performance Saturday gave the Patriots a comfortable cushion throughout the swimming competition.

"It was really bad last year," Taylor said. "It's really great to come back and win again [as a team] and be able to contribute."

Yorktown repeated as state champions in the 200 medley relay and the 200 free relay. In the 200 freestyle, the Patriots trailed Chantilly entering the final 50 meters, but senior All-Met Katy Hinkle easily erased the deficit.

Virginia AAA Swim and Dive Championships Breaking Through: McLean senior Cameron Gledhill (200-meter freestyle), Robinson junior Lauren Kranz and Lake Braddock junior Molly Emery (200 individual medley co-champs), Madison freshman Sean Fletcher (100 butterfly), Annandale sophomore Rachael Burnett (500 freestyle), Jefferson sophomore Wade Gong (100 backstroke), Brooke Point sophomore Meredith Cavalier (100 backstroke) and Fairfax sophomore Ellyn Baumgardner (100 breaststroke) won their first individual state titles. Twice Is Nice: Yorktown's girls became the third Northern Region girls' team to repeat as state champs in 10 years, joining Langley (1998-2001) and Jefferson (2002-2004).