Moses Lake coach Tony St. Onge tells his guys, 'Clear your mind and just race'

FEDERAL WAY — You can talk about the A-game or the X-factor all you want, but Moses Lake swim coach Tony St. Onge has only one last bit of advice for his guys, “Just swim.”

The training is over. The preparation is done. All that’s left is the deciding who’s the fastest swimmer in each event.

Today’s preliminaries at the WIAA 4A State Championships at the King County Aquatic Center will set the stage for who qualifies for the championship swims on Saturday. Top eight swim for a championship, next eight swim for team points, and only time will tell.

“I tell them to think back to your very first race. You weren’t thinking about a national-qualifying times, you were just out there racing people,” St. Onge said. “I tell them, clear your mind and just race.”

The Chiefs have qualified six individuals and all three relays, so the scoring potential is pretty strong to take a run at the top five.

Freshman Zach Washburn became just the second swimmer in Moses Lake school history and the first freshman to complete the Iron Man, which is qualifying in every individual event at the state meet. He joins Chiefs standout Nick Jarman, who did it his senior year in 1998.

Washburn goes into the weekend ranked No. 2 in the 100-yard freestyle and No. 3 in the 50 freestyle, which is where his individual focus will be. He will also swim on a couple of relays, just as soon as St. Onge figures out the lineups he’s going to run with.

Washburn is riding on the wave of two new NCWAA 4A District 6 records. He set the 50-yard freestyle record in 21.50 seconds, eclipsing former Moses Lake standout Aaron Fitterer’s 1994 time of 21.75. He also erased Moses Lake great Brenden Eslick’s district 2015 record (47.70) in the 100 freestyle when he touched in 47.20.

The Chiefs freshman has also set school records in the 100 butterfly (52.22) and backstroke (54.46) in his first season of varsity swimming.

The resume is impressive, but this is the meet where the best in Washington go to find out who is the best.

“I can go faster, will go faster,” said Washburn, no brag, just fact. “Now that we’re don’t tapering, it’s just about going out and swimming hard.”

It wasn’t all that long ago when senior Ander Molitor was the freshman on the school record setting 400 freestyle relay. Now he’s the senior and goes into his final weekend ranked 15th in the 50 freestyle and 12th in the 100 freestyle. He was also a part of the District 6 record-setting 200 medley relay. Noah Heaps swam the backstroke, Washburn did the breaststroke, Eric Kemper swam the butterfly and Molitor brought it all home with the freestyle (1:37.97). St. Onge will more than likely keep that lineup in place this weekend.

“We’ve been really close to the school record (1:37.91) a couple of times this year,” Molitor said. “Our plan is to get it at the state meet and see how that stacks up.”

Heaps has had a bonafide season to this point, erasing Washburn’s school record in the backstroke with a new record time of 54.13. He goes into the weekend ranked 13th in the 200 individual medley and No. 7 in the backstroke. And of course, he’ll swim a couple of relays as well.

“I can swim all the strokes, so it’s been wherever coach needs me. But I prefer to swim the back,” Heaps said.

Dylan Bond is currently ranked No. 20 in the 200 freestyle. Sophomore Eric Kemper was a part of the medley relay a year ago as a freshman. He goes into the weekend ninth in the 100 butterfly. Both are expected to swim a leg on a couple of relays. Brett Jorgensen will swim the 100 breaststroke.

“Right now, there’s probably 10 teams that can finish in the top three,” St Onge said. “There’s probably going to be eight of us fighting for a place in the top four.

“At this point, I tell the guys don't be thinking during your swim. If you look at those snowboarders at the Olympics, they’re not thinking about anything during their run. They’ve trained to do it thousands of times. It’s about clearing your mind and just race.”

Rodney Harwood is a sports writer for the Columbia Basin Herald and can be reached at rharwoodat columbiabasinherald.com