The cheering was so loud that the high-pitched screams literally bounced off the walls of the Redmond Pool on Tuesday evening.
Right at the epicenter of it all were female swimmers from Redmond High and Eastlake High, gutting it out in the final event of the meet: the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Everyone’s eyes were focused on Redmond senior Bethany Harper — the anchor for the Mustangs’ top squad — who blasted through the water and capped off her team’s victory with a state-qualifying mark of 3:47.6. In the first event of the meet, Harper kicked off the 200-yard medley relay, which also took first and notched a state-qualifying time of 1:55.22.
During the meet, swimmers and coaches from both sides sported splashes of pink to support breast-cancer-awareness month. In the end, Redmond defeated Eastlake, 110-75, to up its record to 6-0 in the 4A Kingco Crown Division. The Mustangs are 6-1 overall, with their only loss at the hands of Skyline, a Crest Division squad.
Along with Harper, the 400 free relay consists of sophomores Emily Whelan and Michelle Yang and freshman Claire Wu. On the 200 MR, Harper is joined by fellow senior Clare Janetzki, Wu and Yang.
“The 400 free relay is definitely my favorite race, especially swimming with all these girls. It’s just awesome,” said Harper, who has qualified for state all four years in both relays and individual events. “And that really is what Redmond is, everyone is cheering for each other. Even though we’re the team that actually made state, we all feel together that we all made state. We’re all gonna go support each other.”
Added Whelan about the 400 free relay: “I think that everybody on this relay is just really supportive and they get excited really easily. Everybody just rallies around each other and just gets really pumped up and really steps up to the challenge.”
Both relays also made state last year for head coach Julie Barashkoff’s squad, with the 200 featuring Bethany Harper and her sister Katelyn, Janetzki and Yang, and the 400 consisting of Bethany and her other sister Kristen, Whelan and Yang.
While glancing at her 400 relay teammates after the meet, Yang noted that they’re like a family.
“Emily is almost my twin, Claire is like my little sister and Bethany is like the older sister I never had. I really enjoy swimming with them, ‘cause it’s really hard to swim fast when you’re swimming for yourself, but when you’re swimming for your family, it just means a lot to us,” said Yang, who thrives in her position of swimming the first leg of the 400 relay and getting the machine rolling.
Wu said the push to qualify for state in the relays began on Monday when the girls texted each other in a group chat and pumped each other up about the Eastlake meet. Wu was excited to be involved in the supportive texts, and she was even more thrilled to see those dreams come to fruition.
The freshman is hooked on Mustang swimming.
“It means a lot to me. This is my first year and I’ve heard a lot about high school swimming and how fun it is and how close the people are. We’re just like one big family. I think what motivates me is my teammates, because without them I would just not be where I am,” Wu said.
It’s the team camaraderie and the cheers from everyone at the pool that push Bethany Harper.
“It really helps me go fast and it really motivates me to try harder — harder than I even think I can go,” she said.
Whelan points to Harper and mentions her dynamic anchor performance in the 400 relay as something that fuels her swimming passion. Whelan said that it’s tough to achieve, but when somebody can race their hardest and put everything on the table during a race and succeed, it’s something special.
