Rhett Hounsell is Mercer Island High School’s double threat in the swimming and diving realms.

The senior captain enters his fourth season on the Islanders’ class 3A boys squad, which bolted out to a 3-0 record at press time with victories over Skyline and Newport (4A’s first- and second-place state squads last season) and Shorecrest (which finished ahead of MI at 3A state last season). MI finished tied for seventh following two consecutive state championships in Hounsell’s freshman and sophomore years.

“We’ve exceeded our expectations as a team,” he said of this season’s stellar start. “Some of the meets have been close, but honestly, that just makes the meets more fun because you get to watch everyone race, and it really brings the team spirit together.”

In his three state meets, Hounsell jumped into the diving competition his first two years and then swam on the 200 freestyle relay last year. He took a break from diving last year and hopes to return to state as both a high flyer and swimmer this time out.

“Personally, being able to both do swimming and diving I feel like is what I’m most proud of. Being able to both understand the perspective of going to state as a diver and then also as a swimmer,” said Hounsell, whose swimming specialties are the 50 and 100 freestyles this season.

Hounsell enjoys the fast-paced freestyle events as he claws through the water and makes his flips as quickly as possible.

“You can kind of just push your thoughts aside and just really isolate yourself in the heat of the moment since they’re the two fastest events in the whole meet. You can just go, go, go,” he added.

Along with honing his swimming and diving skills over the years, Hounsell said he’s learned a lot about being a leader while connecting and forming a community with his fellow swimmers.

The Reporter asked Hounsell a series of questions to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse into his life:

What’s your biggest pet peeve?

This is a hard one, but it probably would be when people don’t flush the toilet.

That’s the first time someone’s given me that answer.

It’s not the most newsworthy, newspaper-appropriate one, but it’s almost the truth for me.

Hey, we seek the truth. So there you go.

What’s the best piece of advice that you’ve ever been given?

Just try and keep trying because you never know what you can accomplish unless you give it your all.

So out of the pool, how do you spend your spare time?

Well, of course I go to school, but then I also spend a lot of my time ice skating. I’m a competitive figure skater. So I spend quite a few hours each week doing that, and then I also enjoy skiing, and I do some theater, some acting.

So you’ve got a lot of skills there that you do. What’s maybe a skill that you’d like to learn?

I would like to learn probably how to speak German. I took one class this quarter to work on it, but I’m just not good at it at all. But I really like learning languages. I’ve done all the Spanish courses at my high school, and I’m moving on to new ones. It’s exciting for me.

What’s a dream vacation spot for you?

I would really like to go to the Maldives. It just looks so warm and pleasant there.

What’s a binge-worthy TV series that you’d recommend?

Right now I’m in the middle of watching “Suits,” and I would highly recommend it, but only if you’re not a lawyer. My mom’s a lawyer, so she cannot stand it because it’s just not a good representation. But I enjoy it.

What’s your go-to snack before a meet or something like that, or after a meet?

My favorite thing is probably chocolate milk.