State marks aplenty for Viks, diver Moore

Kyle Komlodi turns to a few of his fellow Inglemoor High swimmers and offers with a cool, confident voice and intense eyes: “You gotta get nervous, you gotta get jittery.”

This motivating motto comes to life before one of the relays during last Thursday’s 4A Kingco meet against Bellevue at Mercer Island’s Mary Wayte Pool.

The Viking senior certainly knows how to tear it up in the pool as evidenced by qualifying for state in the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke and as part of three relays. On this day, he paved the way for a 100-86 Viking victory with wins in the 100 and 200 frees.

Sophomore Patrick Lu noted that Komlodi and senior Craig Olynyk are pros at pushing the Viks to swim their hardest each day.

And what gets Komlodi’s blood pumping?

“This year, especially, we’ve got a pretty well-rounded team. We’ve got a lot of cards to play — and we’ve got a lot more breaststrokers,” he said.

The competition fuels his fire, as well: “There’s always new sophomores and juniors — always someone new to swim against.”

Olynyk, who has state times in the 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard backstroke and relays, glances at Komlodi with a smile and notes that the two are “rivals” of a sort when it comes to backstroke marks. Whoever is the fastest probably doesn’t matter much, but what counts is that they’re both grinding it out for personal-best times.

Olynyk adds about the keys to his success: “It depends what team, what rival is there and what pool we’re at. It’s some kind of a combination of the two that gets me stoked up to push myself.

“(With the relays) you’re not out there suffering on your own,” he continued. “Everyone is right behind you on the blocks.”

Currently, the Viks’ 400-freestyle relay stands third in the state at 3 minutes, 23.74 seconds, while the 200-freestyle relay clocks in at 1 minute, 32.05 seconds.

Michael Postetter, Carl Olsson, Sam Billett and Lu are also part of those relays and the state 200-yard medley foursome. (Senior diver Spencer Moore has also qualified for state for the third straight season.)

“It’s a lot more energizing … the adrenaline when you dive in and hand off to someone else,” Lu said of swimming the relays as opposed to individual events.

Added Olsson, who notched a 50-yard freestyle state time (22.07) against Bellevue: “(When) the other team members ‘yell’ at you and demand you go faster, it’s (great) that the other people care how you swim and to be part of something bigger than yourself.”

Postetter, a junior following in the footsteps of former Vikings and older brothers David and Jeffrey, said that it’s engaging to watch coach Monica Mayes and the guys strategize and form the right relays to — hopefully — land in the top eight at state.

Keeping calm before races is one way to succeed, Postetter said.

“My family has always been relaxed and mentally prepared. The physical is there, but you’ve gotta have that mind-set,” he said. “You’ve gotta be prepared to step up when you need to step up — get it done.”

Mayes, who has coached the Inglemoor boys since 1994, has seen her team flourish despite losing its practice and home-meet spots after the Carole Ann Wald at St. Edward Park and Northshore pool closures.

They now share practice time (a “brutal” 5:15-6:15 a.m. slot) with Bothell and Woodinville at Juanita High each weekday with “home” meets at Juanita, as well.

“When we lost St. Edward, I was really nervous, but they’ve really stepped up to the plate — and I’m really impressed with that,” Mayes said. “They really love competing together and they want to improve on what they did the previous year.”

Lu joked about team togetherness: “You don’t wanna get up a 5 in the morning every day by yourself.”

Komlodi added quickly: “By Friday, (you’re asking), ‘Where’s the sleep at?’”

Last season, Inglemoor took fifth at state in the team standings and diver Moore nailed a 10th-place finish.

Moore is hoping that his front 1 ½ with a full twist and front 2 ½ dives will earn him a spot on the top-eight podium this year. He’s earned scores of 7 (out of 10) on the tough latter dive so far this season.

He attended a dive camp at the University of Indiana last summer and has competed with the Pacific Northwest Diving club to rev up for state.

“(The key) is to just really pay attention to all the senior divers. Just slightly changing … pointing my toe, changing a hurdle, keeping my legs straight,” he said of his previous state experiences. “All the little things can make a difference.”