It takes a lot to impress head Camas boys swimming and diving coach Mike Bemis, a man revered by athletes for his caring, “tough-love” philosophy.
He was definitely impressed with his team’s performance at the District 4 meet in Kelso on Feb. 7-8.
“This was an excellent meet,” he said. “I mean, they beat my prediction by 13 points. They were all helping each other to get the times needed to go to state.”
Seven Papermakers earned their way to the upcoming 4A state meet as Camas won the district championship with a team score of 326. Union was second with 261 and Hanford finished third with 184.
Taylor crushes expectations after knee surgery
When the season started, senior Ben Taylor couldn’t even dive into a pool. He sustained a knee injury last year in a wrestling class, but kept swimming until the pain was too much to take. Eventually he underwent surgery to reconstruct his anterior cruciate ligament.