• Photo Showcase: 2011 Nebraska state swim meet finals, Feb. 26

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LINCOLN — As Omaha Marian's Kristy Kunkel climbed to the top of the medal stand for the final time at the state swim meet after capturing the state championship in the 500-yard freestyle, opposing coaches finally let out a sigh of relief they had been holding in for the last six years.

The Kunkel family swimming dynasty had finally come to an end.

Kristy Kunkel added a pair of individual state titles Saturday — also capturing the 200-yard freestyle — to bring to 12 the total of individual state titles won by the three Kunkel siblings.

Older sister Kelly Kunkel won four state championships in the 100 and 200 freestyles for Marian from 2006 to 2008. Billy Kunkel took home titles in the 100 and 200 freestyles in 2009 and won the 100-yard breaststroke in 2008 for Creighton Prep's juggernaut teams.

Kelly, now a swimmer at Illinois, and Billy, a standout at Western Kentucky, each had words of encouragement for their younger sister as the curtain came down this week on Kristy's prep career.

“My sister and brother both texted me saying good luck and that I better do good because I'm the last Kunkel and all that stuff,” said Kristy, who will join Iowa State's swim program next year. “They're going to be really happy.”

Kunkel led wire to wire in the 500 freestyle, which she won with a time of 5:05.45, narrowly missing her personal-best mark of 5:04.97 set in the prelims during last year's state meet. She also captured the state title in the event as a sophomore in 2009.

But there was considerably more drama in the 200 freestyle, which has become the Kunkel family's specialty. After the first 100 yards, Kunkel trailed Millard West's Emma O'Connell by 1.56 seconds before rallying to win in a time of 1:52.44.

“She took it out really fast, and that kind of scared me at first,” Kunkel said. “But (Marian coach David Anderson) told me to swim my own race. I swam how I usually swim it, and I guess it paid off at the end.”

It was Kristy's third consecutive championship in the 200 and the fifth straight overall won by one of the Kunkel sisters. Kristy's time actually knocked Kelly out of the state's all-time Top 10 list in the event.

“My sister would always tell me, ‘You better not beat my time,'” Kristy Kunkel said, adding with a laugh, “I don't know how she's going to feel about that.”

Anderson said only part of Kristy's success can be traced to her athleticism. Another component is her competitiveness, which no doubt can be at least partially attributed to growing up the youngest in a family of swimming standouts.

“She's been a great leader,” Anderson said. “She's been one of those who is just very, very competitive, and that rubs off on the rest of the girls.”

But, he added, Kristy has never let the weight of the expectations attached to her name slow her down in the pool.

“I don't think she feels pressure. I think she feeds off it,” Anderson said. “I know they're always talking to each other and encouraging each other.”

For Anderson, who coached both Kristy and Kelly at Marian, Saturday's victories were bittersweet. Next season's Marian team will be without a Kunkel for the first time in a long time.

“I don't want to think about that yet,” Anderson said. “They've been around for a long time, so I'm definitely going to miss them.”

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