Issaquah's Hopes Ride On Croasdell

State swim facts

What: State boys swimming and diving championships for Class AAA, AA and A/B schools. Where: King County Aquatic Center, Federal Way. Friday: Swimming preliminaries 4:30-7 p.m.; AA/A diving finals, 7-10 p.m. Saturday: AAA diving finals, 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.; Swimming finals, 5-10 p.m. Tickets: Single session - $6 adults, $4 students and senior citizens; All-session pass - $10 adults, $6 students and senior citizens; family plans also available.

No school play for Ross Croasdell this year. Just drama.

The Issaquah High senior keyed his boys swimming team's surprising district championship last week and hopes this week to shave more than 3 seconds off his 200-yard freestyle time and break the state record.

Whether he can help Issaquah to a Class AAA state title along the way - well, that script remains to be written.

"Who knows?" he said. "We won the district title, and nobody was really expecting that. Maybe we can repeat that at state. We're going to be up there."

The state meet opens tomorrow with preliminary heats and wraps up with Saturday's finals at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way. Bellevue is the defending AAA state champion, but Kentridge is the 1994 favorite.

Croasdell, who swam a leg of last week's victory-clinching 400 relay in the last event of the meet, is expected to supply Issaquah with 32 points before he ever swims another relay final. He's the state leader in four individual events, including the 100 free and 200 free - where he'll try to repeat as champion. Individual titles are worth 16 points each.

"I'm a little faster (this year)," he says. "And I'm not as involved with as many things as I was last year, so I have a little more time (to work out). And I have a little more confidence."

Participating in the Issaquah school musical last year beached Croasdell a little more often than he would have liked. "It was fun, but I really needed to get into the water more," he said.

It didn't prevent him from winning his first state titles, but with more work this season along with the added confidence, he figures the state 200 free record (1:37.18) is within reach. He won state last year with a personal-best 1:40.36.

"I think it's in him. It's just a matter of if it all comes together," says Phil Jones, Issaquah's first-year coach. "That's the magic of swimming. Or you could call it the voodoo of it."

It may take a little magic for Issaquah to pull off a title, with only four individuals qualified in seven events. Besides Croasdell, Ross Linderman (50 free, 100 free), Nick Hopman (200 individual medley, 100 backstroke) and Micah Ando (100 breaststroke) will represent Issaquah in individual events.

The team also has qualified its three relay teams, and with 32 points per relay victory at stake, that's the key, Jones says, to overtaking meet-favorite Kentridge.

Another key is other strong individuals, such as those in Issaquah's own KingCo Conference (which took seven of nine individual titles last year), picking off big points and spreading the scoring wealth.

From KingCo, Sammamish's Wes Oliver returns to defend his 500 free title and hopes to improve on his third-place finish in the 200 IM. And Juanita's Ryan Arai is coming off a district breaststroke championship.

Cliff Langin (fourth in state diving last year) and B.J. Olver (third in 200 IM, fourth in breaststroke at district last week) lead Bellevue in the defense of its 1993 state team title.

But Croasdell, his Issaquah teammates and a little magic just might leave everybody else fighting for second place.

Class AA-A meet

Coaches Rick Wertman of Mount Rainier and Coy Jones of Hazen, who have combined to win the past three Class AA state boys swim titles, agree Seattle Prep is a legitimate contender for this year's championship. Prep beat both Seamount League teams in the Sea-King District meet last weekend, piling up 255 points. Hazen, which won the state crown in 1992, was second with 174. Mount Rainier, the defending state champ and the 1991 winner, followed with 170 points.

"They looked as strong as I thought they were," Wertman said. "It's very unusual in my experience to get as many seasoned freshman as they have at that level. Joel Shapiro is and example of that."

Shapiro won the 100 butterfly and swam on Prep's two winning relays (200 medley and 400 free).