It's fun to watch Cedar Rapids Washington swimming coach Chris Cruise work his magic at a big meet like last Saturday's district event down in Iowa City.

Cruise, stylishly coiffed with his curly hair, was a study in perpetual motion, encouraging his swimmers, patting them on the back after races, checking results that were posted on a door, keeping track of the standings in a right race with Iowa City West, making calculations about where things were headed during the afternoon.

Cruise, 43, is not a rah-rah guy, but he's got his pulse on the action and knows how to extract the most from his athletes. The result Saturday at the Mercer Aquatic Center was Washington's 51st district title in a row, a mind-boggling accomplishment that began in 1964.

Cruise has played a role in 24 of those district titles as a Washington swimmer, assistant coach and head coach. Now he's taking the Warriors to the state meet in Marshalltown Saturday, looking for another high finish in the standings.

Washington has won 27 state titles in boys swimming. Hal Krizan won 11 of those championships in the 1960's and 1970's, including 10 straight, and Jim Voss captured 15 crowns in the 1970's, 1980's and 1990's. Cruise followed suit with a state title in 2008.

The competition in boys swimming is stiffer now, both locally and state-wide. Washington is facing strong competititon from Iowa City West, which benefits from the IFLY Club team that practices at the University of Iowa pool, and he's facing another threat from Linn-Mar, which opened a gorgeous $11.7 million aquatic center this fall and has a strong program.

The Iowa High School Athletic Association has tabbed Iowa City West, blessed with outstanding young swimmers, as the team to beat at the Marshalltown YMCA this Saturday. Muscatine has won the last three state titles and there are other strong clubs as well.

Washington will have swimmers in 10 of 11 events at the state meet, led by Nick Saulnier, Jared Thorson, Cameron Kelley and a deep lineup. It was depth, not star talent, that lifted the Warriors to their 51st straight district title over Iowa City West last week.

Iowa City West has more swimmers who are capable of winning state titles, whereas Washington had more swimmers who were capable of piling up points at a distric meet. Now the Trojans could have the edge in the biggest meet of all.

Cruise is hoping for a top-5 finish in Marshalltown, which would continue Washington's string of outstanding performances. Cruise seems to have a knack for extracting the most out of his swimmers at the right time, so it will be interesting to see how it turns out.

The Linn-Mar Lions, led by district champion Calvin Greve in the 100 backstroke, also hope to make some noise in Marshalltown. So do the Kennedy Cougars, led by Brennan Urbi, and the Jefferson J-Hawks, paced by Paul Hummell.