Port Angeles diver wins state championship, sets meet record and receives All-American status

FEDERAL WAY — Port Angeles record-setting diver Austin Fahrenholtz achieved his second goal of the season.

And then some.

The junior diver captured the Class 2A boys diving title and in the process shattered the meet record and achieved All-American honors.

Other than that, Fahrenholtz had a pretty typical teenager’s day at the state boys swimming and diving championships at King County Aquatic Center on Saturday.

The physically unassuming Fahrenholtz had two goals when he started the season in November. He wanted to break the 400-point scoring barrier and win state.

The year-round diver achieved the first goal twice, scoring more than 400 points for All-American honors two meets in a row, including the West Central District championships on Feb. 12.

He ripped apart the district meet record by 160 points with a record-setting 402.05.

To achieve the second goal he had to beat defending 2A state champion Brian Drake of Squalicum.

To beat Drake, Fahrenholtz had to come from behind in the finals after trailing 270.05-252.90 after preliminaries Friday.

Fahrenholtz’s final three dives completed the comeback.

“His last three dives were very nice,” Port Angeles coach Rich Butler said.

In the process, Fahrenholtz set a new 2A state record with a total score of 376.10.

Drake, a senior, scored 349.60. Both divers broke the old mark of 334.90, set in 2009 by Nick Hutchison. His school was not listed by WIAA.com.

“Austin had an All-American score,” Butler said. “That’s pretty fantastic. You have to score at least 375 for All-American.”

Sequim, meanwhile, had two divers score in the top six.

Connor Christianson claimed fifth place with 299.50 and Ezra Perkins was right behind in sixth with 282.15.

The Riders also had one swimmer place at state as junior Tyler Burke captured fifth place in the 100-yard backstroke with a finals time of 56.95 seconds.

He improved by more than a second from his preliminary time of 58.06.

“That was a fantastic swim for Tyler on Saturday,” Butler said.

The Riders came in 12th place out of 25 teams with 13 points while the Wolves ended up in 18th with seven points.

Charlie Parks just missed qualifying for the finals as he took 12th place in the 200 individual medley with a preliminary time of 2:14.65 and 16th place in the 100 breaststroke in 1:08.81.

Meanwhile, the Port Angeles 400 freestyle relay team took 15th in 3:40.82 with Avery Koehler, C.J. Urnes, Parks and Burke.

Butler said he is looking forward to next season already with two state placers returning, including defending diving champion Fahrenholtz.

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