For the past three years, twin brothers Slava and Vlad Gilszmer have been standouts for the Kamiak High School boys swim and dive team.
The dynamic duo is now college bound.
The brothers each recently made verbal commitments to compete at college swimming’s highest level — and it’s on opposite sides of the country.
Vlad, ranked as the No. 4 recruit in the state for the class of 2021 by collegeswimming.com, is heading to NCAA Division-I Ivy League school Cornell in Ithica, New York, and Slava, the No. 19 recruit in the state, is set to for a trip straight down I-5 to the University of California-San Diego of the Big West Conference.
Both thanked their friends, family and coaches in a news release.
The list of accolades Slava and Vlad have compiled while competing for the area’s top high school swim and dive program is lenghty.
Each brother has competed at state in at least three races between invdividual and relay events since joining the Knights’ program as freshmen during the 2017-18 season, including two state relay crowns for the pair and two individual state titles for Vlad.
This past season, the twins anchored Kamiak’s record-setting 200-yard freestyle relay team, which set the Class 4A state championship record with a time of 1 minute, 25.53 seconds. Vlad also became an “Ironman,” a feat accomplished when a competitor qualifies for state in all 11 swimming events, and set the 4A Northwest District record in the 500 freestyle.
Both of Vlad’s individual state titles, 500 freestyle victories in 2019 and 2020, headlined 1-2 finishes for the Gilszmer brothers, with Slava finishing second in each.
And the pair has helped Kamiak stay unbeaten over the past three regular seasons while the Knights have claimed three consecutive Wesco South championships.
The brothers have a shot to add to those totals this winter when boys swim and dive is set to return in the state as a part of Season 2 of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association’s current plan for athletics during the 2020-2021 school year. Practices for Season two are scheduled to start on Dec. 28.
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