4 new state records set at 2023 Alaska State Swim & Dive Championships
JUNEAU, Alaska (KTUU) - Times were rapid in the waters at the Dimond Park Aquatic Center in Juneau as four new state records were set and a dynasty was dethroned over the weekend at the 2023 ASAA Alaska Swim and Dive Championships.
In the second event of the day, Service swimmers Ben Price, Preston Kwon, Tomasz Balaban and Conrad Fawcett clocked in at 1 minute, 33.83 seconds, to set the new boys 200-yard medley relay state record, shaving off 0.17 seconds off the 2018 Cougars relay team. The win helped propel Service to the team state title with 122 points, blowing the rest of the competition out of the water as runner-up finished with 64 points.
Thunder Mountain’s PJ Foy did not disappoint in his home pool. The University of North Carolina commit broke two of his own records he set at state last year at the Bartlett Pool in Anchorage. His time of 48.27 seconds in the 100-yard butterfly bested last year’s time of 48.46, while in the 100-yard breaststroke, he hit the wall at 54.67, shaving off nearly a second. Those were the only two events Foy competed in, though he holds the second fastest times in the 200-yard freestyle set last season and the 200-yard individual medley set in 2021.
Eagle River’s Wes Mank is now the boys 100-yard backstroke state record holder after timing 49.37 at the meet, edging Kodiak’s Talon Lindquist’s time of 49.50 set in 2016. Mank also came away from the meet as a state champion in the 200-yard freestyle and was a member of Eagle River’s state champion 200-yard freestyle relay team comprised of Dean Toole, Matthew Baker, Owen Hasenstab and Mank.
On another note, the Juneau Douglas girls program won the team title with 101 points, dethroning the Dimond Lynx who had won the previous seven state championships.
Soldotna diver Abriella Werner also shined with a score of 464.8 and a state championship title.
Full results from the 2023 ASAA Alaska Swim and Dive Championships can be found here.
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