TACOMA — The bleachers were packed and the windows were fogged at Foss High School’s unseasonably warm aquatic center for last weekend’s West Central District III boys swimming tournament.

Throughout the two-day event, coaches and kids from the Kitsap County Narrows League schools reveled in the opportunity to compete and check out who was making the biggest splash.

“It is a great meet because we haven’t seen half of these (swimmers). It raises the bar. You see the best in the district,” said Olympic coach Paul Henderson.

Many swimmers stood in little clumps near the stands during the races, while others cheered by the lanes.

“I wanted to check out the competition,” Bremerton freshman Nathan Adrian said. WIth his top time of 48.17 seconds in the 100 free, he was the only Kitsap swimmer to win a district title.

The only one in the diving portion was Central Kitsap junior Joe Brace who outclassed everyone in his event with 386 points.

Many of the swimmers recorded personal bests in their events with some qualifying for the Class 4A state tournament on Feb. 20-21 at the King County Aquatics Center in Federal Way.

“It was awesome,” said Olympic’s Patrick Fitzgerald, of his finals race in the 200 freestyle event. He ran away with a second place, state qualifying time of 1:49.73. He also had something else to smile about.

“I just broke the school record,” he said. “My best time was 1:52 and now I have a 1:49.” Fitzgerald could not contain his smile as Henderson broke the news to him right after the race.

The meet was also a chance to renew friendly rivalries.

South Kitsap’s Greg Mercer duked it out with Adrian in the 50 and 100 freestyle events. Mercer qualified for state in the 50 with a time of 22.75, but missed the chance in his longer event with a fifth-place finish.

“(Mercer) has got a lot of talent,” South Kitsap coach Dennis Anderson said. “He’s got a good feel for the water and he’s got guts.”

Anderson was perched next to the diving boards where the swimmers in lane No. 6 paddled by. He enjoyed the opportunity to bring his squad down to the Tacoma pool.

“They get a little more team-concept feeling,” he said. “That is what state is for.”

The Wolves did more than just bond as their 200 free relay team was second with a state-qualifying time of 1:33.45, the 400 free relay team took third in a state-qualifying 3:27.40 and the team finished fourth in the overall standings behind Wilson, Gig Harbor and Shelton.

Bremerton Coach Peter Tonder was impressed with the fact that even though his team only had a team of six swimmers compared to other teams of 20 or 25, his team still took 10th place ahead of Central Kitsap, Olympic, Lincoln and North Kitsap.

Tonder was also impressed with Adrian, his freshman sensation. Even though Adrian got second in the 50, he was initially seeded No. 1 and Tonder expects big things in the future for the youngster.

“It’s just districts,” Tonder said with a shrug. “Two weeks away is state. I’ll put it this way — he’ll go low.”

North Kitsap failed to send any swimmers on to Federal Way, but coach Greg Braun said the meet was still another good opportunity for his team to improve their individual times.

“We had a lot of rookie swimmers this year,” Braun said. He recently chatted with his team about what success means in swimming, individual improvement, getting best times and goal setting.

The hallmark of Braun’s team was senior swimmer Devon Shefano’s outrageous hairdo.

Shefano was sporting a buzz cut with the large letters NK emblazened on the back. On the side of his head were shaved the outlines of sharks.

“Guess who gave that to him?” Braun quizzed later, while pointing to himself.

It was a carefree haircut for a carefree swimmer.

This was Shefano’s first year swimming for the Vikings.

“It was hard at first,” he said. “It didn’t seem like I should be there. But everyone on the team said ‘Come on man, let’s do it.’ My goal this year was to get to districts and I did in the backstroke.”

Shefano ended up in 24th but he loved the time he spent with his teammates.

As do Central Kitsap co-captains Jesse Arthur and Mathew Wright.

“I was close but I didn’t get it this year” in the 50 free, said Arthur, a senior. But Arthur wasn’t tearful — he enjoyed being a part of his swimming family the best.

“They are all a bunch of funny guys,” he said. “We’re always happy-go lucky. We don’t get depressed over it.”

As Arthur spoke, his team crowded around him to listen.

Central Kitsap coach Maddie Heaslip was all smiles too.

“(The meet) is going great,” Heaslip said, her shirt dabbled with spray from the pool. “We’re going to have a great team next year too. We have a big group of juniors coming up. We are only losing four seniors out of a team of 20.”

Heaslip said one of the biggest assets of her team this year was diving dynamo Brace, who keeps rewriting the CK record book in the event.

Next up, Brace, Adrian, Mercer and Fitzgerald and others will train for the two weeks and then head over the water to Federal Way for their last chance to

tread for their teams this school year.