Mercer Island swim and dive coach Chauntelle Johnson knew she had a special group last season, with a team loaded with veteran talent. But after the boys swim and dive team reclaimed its first state title in three years, the Mercer Island coach saw her team graduate 22 seniors.

“Replacing that number alone is difficult, and we had some special kids last year. They’re not an easy group to replace,” she said.

With a slew of fresh faces, Mercer Island swim and dive will look to defend its title. Embarking on that challenge with new talent is something Johnson is excited to begin doing.

“The best part about this group is that they really want be here, they come into practice and they want to get better,” Johnson said. “I see a lot of good things from this particular group. Not necessarily a lot of state-level returning talent, but a lot of kids that have been waiting for the last two or three years to get an opportunity to swim at districts and swim at state that are now going to get that chance.”

The Islanders return six of their 16 state representatives from last year’s team, with a team strength being the backstroke and breaststroke events.

While the sprint freestyles have been a strong point for the Islanders in years past, they have become a weaker event this year due to the outgoing team members.

With inexperience the biggest challenge of the season, Johnson is anxious to see what her swimmers are capable of in dual meet competition.

“I think right now, our goal is to get through the season and win out our dual meets. We’ve got the talent to be very competitive. I don’t know what other teams have, but I feel very confident with what we have right now.”

Despite the changing of the guard, Johnson still lists winning KingCo and placing at the state meet as goals for her team. “I don’t think its outside of our realm to come home with a trophy,” she said.

“Some of the past seasons for the boys, I’ve kind of known what we’ve had going into the season. This year, there has been a lot of unknown, which has made it really exciting. You come into practice and you don’t really know exactly how things are going to go, and sometimes you’re surprised in a really good way. I’m really looking forward to this.”