Gig Harbor junior Grady earns podium spots in 200, 500 freestyle events

The Gig Harbor High boys swim team concluded its season much the same way it started: With a solid, small core group of strong swimmers putting forth solid efforts over the weekend at the Class 4A state swim meet at King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.

Gig Harbor was led by junior Ryan Grady, who placed sixth in the 200-yard freestyle final with a time of 1 minute, 45.73 seconds and fifth in the 500 free with a time of 4:48.38.

“He swam really well in prelims and put himself in a good position for finals,” Gig Harbor coach Mike Kelly said.

Grady, who also competes with the Gig Harbor Canoe and Kayak Club, has been a staple in the long-distance events for the Tides.

“His cardio capacity is what helps him out,” Kelly said. “All the paddling he does with Canoe and Kayak Club. One hand washes the other — each sport helps the other. He has a high capacity for maximum effort. Sometimes it’s a biological thing. We were way down on numbers this year so we worked exceptionally hard on recovery. We didn’t taper him for the league or district meet. We figured he would have a good state meet and we proved to be right.”

Gig Harbor senior Dawson Allen won the consolation final of the 50 free with a time of 22.06 seconds. Senior Griffin Doane placed sixth in the consolation final of the 100 breast with a time of 1:01.03. Junior Curtis Clay placed seventh in the consolation final of the 500 free with a time of 5:01.64.

The four were Gig Harbor’s best swimmers all season on a team that lacked the depth of years past. Kelly said he wishes more swimmers would turn out for the team.

“To a degree, it’s out of my hands,” Kelly said. “It’s just whoever shows up. You see teams like Bellevue and Newport, they’re all cycled in from pretty strong club teams. That’s kind of lacking in the area right now.”

Kelly said his favorite moments from the season were Grady making the state cut in his first meet of the year and Griffin Doane setting the school record in the 100 breast.

“(Doane) just works really hard,” Kelly said. “I felt he was very deserving of being the record holder. He deserves to be up there (on the wall).”

Kelly has been continually impressed by Grady, who doesn’t even swim on a club team, and was one of the state’s best swimmers this season.

“I think he still has a lot of untapped potential,” Kelly said. “He goes up against kids who are working 11, 12 months a year. It’s pretty impressive.”

This story was originally published February 24, 2016 at 12:11 PM with the headline "Gig Harbor junior Grady earns podium spots in 200, 500 freestyle events."