RICHMOND — Eddie Clement is no dummy.
The Paul Laurence Dunbar coach brought an extra set of clothes Saturday.
For good reason.
After his Bulldogs swept combined, girls' and boys' team titles in the Region 5 Swimming and Diving Meet, Clement's undercharges heaved him into the Eastern Kentucky University pool.
Voted by his peers as outstanding coach in both divisions, Clement led the Bulldogs to their fifth consecutive combined region title, their 11th in 12 years.
Dunbar's girls, winning for the third year in a row, edged Lexington Christian 236-198. Henry Clay was third with 192.
Dunbar's boys swamped Tates Creek 323-200. Henry Clay was third with 137.
The top two in each event qualify for the Pannell Swim Shop/KHSAA State Swimming and Diving Meet, Feb. 23-25, at the University of Louisville. Also, the next 22 fastest times from each of five regional meets will qualify.
"Region 5 is really stacked full of talent, so we feel real lucky today to come in and survive in boys and girls because there's just so many good athletes," Clement said.
The Bulldog boys got off to an inauspicious start, disqualified from second place in the 200-yard medley relay because of a stroke violation in the breaststroke.
"We had to overcome a little adversity to begin with," Clement said. "We've got a real strong team. ... They're able to rely on each other, to 'man up' and bring the fruits of their labor to fruition."
Dunbar's boys swept the 200- and 400-yard freestyle relays. Trent Mattingly won the 100 breaststroke.
Sydney Toth, voted most outstanding competitor, powered Dunbar's girls by winning the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly. She also swam on the winning 200 and 400 freestyle relays.
"I'm feeling really good," Toth, a sophomore, said after winning back-to-back individual events. "I was hoping to keep my No. 1 seed in both of them."
Sandra Wilk, who joined Toth on the relays, won the 200 freestyle.
Henry Clay's Kelly Ren took the Tim Cahill Most Outstanding Performance award. She won the 100 backstroke in 58.58 seconds. Earlier, she placed second to Madison Central's Caroline Smith in the 100 freestyle.
The lone meet record to fall came in the girls' 500 freestyle, with LCA's Danielle Binkauskas defending her meet title in 5 minutes, 9.18 seconds. The former record of 5:09.98 was set by Henry Clay's Sydney Mountford in 1997.
"It was really exciting," said Binkauskas, a senior. "I've been trying for a couple of years to get it, so it was good to finally do it.
"My best time is 5:08, so I added a little bit. But I just took it out, tried to stay in first, and I always do my best."
Double winners on the boys' side included Henry Clay's Russ Bryant and Tates Creek's Ethan Curl.
Bryant, a senior, just missed Brandon Lovell's 8-year-old record (1:56.10) in the 200 individual medley. Bryant clocked 1:56.41, then came back to defend his meet title in the 100 butterfly.
"Brandon Lovell was on my club team back when he used to swim in high school, and I always used to look up to him because he was always such a well-rounded swimmer," Bryant said. "I got a couple team records on the Dolphins, which is my club team. It would have been real nice to get that record in the 200 I.M., but it was pretty close."
Named outstanding competitor on the boys' side, Bryant also led off the Devils' third-place 400 freestyle relay.
Curl swept the 200 and 500 freestyles, anchored the winning medley relay and helped the Commodores place second in the 400 free relay.
A 6-foot-4, 213-pound sophomore, Curl said he was most pleased by his 200 freestyle victory.
"Took it out and just was fast, was right around my best time," Curl said. "My 500 was a little bit slower, but we're not shaved and tapered yet, so I'm expecting around State ... to be faster."
