Jackson freshman sets record at state swim meet

FEDERAL WAY — Syunta Lee is not a typical freshman.

Freshmen aren’t supposed to set state records. Jackson High School’s Syunta Lee established a new state standard in the 200 individual medly as he won two events on Saturday at the Class 4A state swim and dive meet at the King County Aquatics Center.

The frosh phenom won the 200 individual medley in 1 minute, 46.66 seconds, beating the previous record that lasted only a few hours.

Entering the final, he believed he could finish with a time under 1:47. It turned out he needed it. Capital’s Andrew Coombs set the state record in the 3A meet earlier in the day, swimming a 1:46.83 to beat the previous record of 1:47.60 set in 2014 by Lakeside’s Abrahm Devine.

While long-standing records are made to be broken, they aren’t often broken twice on the same day.

In Friday’s preliminary round, Lee led all competitors with a 1:48.27 and became confident that the record was his for the taking.

“From there, I just knew I had it,” Lee said. “I had a feeling.”

That became a little dicey after Coombs’ performance.

“He lowered it a lot,” said Lee of Coombs. “I was like, ‘Wow, I don’t know if I can go this (fast), but I’m just going to give it a shot.’ And, I did.”

Lee completed the first leg of his record swim (butterfly stroke) in 23.81 seconds. He followed with the backstroke (26.58), breaststroke (30.89) and freestyle (25.38). Lee recorded the fastest time in three of the four strokes, with runner-up Will Spencer of Mount Rainier edging Lee in by 0.11 seconds in the second leg as he tried to catch the freshman. Lee was aware of Spencer’s proximity for the first half of the race but tried to focus on his own pace.

‘My club coach (West Coast Aquatics’ Carlene Takaki) always told me to race my own race, no matter if you’re going to win or lose — just do your own thing,” Lee said. “That honestly helped me a lot during the race.”

The freshman liked that Spencer could keep pace through the first half, though, as it helped him be certain he was pushing himself.

“Another thing that she told me was ‘use them when they’re useful, and then lose them when they’re not,” Lee said.

After the first two legs, the usefulness was over, and Lee pulled away.

According to Jackson swim coach Drew Whorley, there’s more to Lee being an atypical freshman than his displays of speed in the pool.

“He does everything right — technically, his approach to training, his attitude,” Whorley said. “It’s kind of unusual to see someone come in as a freshman and demonstrate the type of leadership qualities that he possesses. The team really rallies around him. And not because of how fast he swims but because of who he is. He’s the type of guy who helps all the developmental swimmers with their goggles, and he’s just relatable and approachable — mature and wise beyond his years.”

Lee went on to win the 500 freestyle in 4 minutes, 24.46 seconds. Next on Lee’s list is taking down the 30-year-old state record of 4:23.06 in 500. He believes that with the continued support of his coaches and teammates, he’ll get there.

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Jackson finished 11th in the team standings in the meet, which was won by Issaquah. Lake Stevens led all area schools with a sixth-place finish. Camden Blevins-Mohr placed second in the 100 butterfly and third in the 50 freestyle for the Vikings. He also swam the first leg of a pair of Lake Stevens relay teams. The Vikings came in second in the 200 freestyle relay and third in the 400 freestyle relay.

Team scores

1. Issaquah 238; 2. Newport 221; Tahoma 205; Redmond 191; Skyline 185.5; 6. Lake Stevens 151; 11. Jackson 108; 15. Kamiak 40; 29. Glacier Peak 4.

Local individual medalists

200 medley relay—8. Jackson (Vyron Domingo, Nolan Thai, Vincent Phillips, Lee) 1:36.66.

200 freestyle—5. Hunter Latham (Lake Stevens) 1:42.59

200 individual medley—1. Lee (Jackson) 1:46.66*; 5. Domingo (Jackson) 1:53.75;

50 freestyle—3. Blevins-Mohr (Lake Stevens) 20.79; 8. Sam Lamb (Lake Stevens) 21.48;

100 butterfly—2. Blevins-Mohr (Lake Stevens) 49.18; 8. Phillips (Jackson) 52.37;

100 freestyle—8. Lamb (Lake Stevens) 47.85;

500 freestyle—1. Lee (Jackson) 4:24.56; 6. Latham (Lake Stevens) 4:42.44;

200 freestyle relay—2. Lake Stevens (Blevins-Mohr, Coren Coe, Latham, Lamb) 1:25.30; 8. Kamiak (Kaiden Nguyen, Jack Fast, Brandon Wong, Lucas Chai) 1:29.32;

400 freestyle relay—4. Lake Stevens (Blevins-Mohr, Sebastian Erickson, Latham, Lamb)

*state record