There must’ve been something in the water other than chlorine Friday at Richards Pool in Cape Elizabeth because personal best records were dropping faster than stones in the deep end.

The Capers beat Westbrook in the boys meet (109-66) and also in the girls meet (140-43), but the real story of the day was the fast times and scores being turned in by swimmers from both teams.

“This was probably one of the better meets we’ve had in years,” said Cape coach Kerry Kertes. “We just do a lot of sprint training, so we put the kids in a position where their bodies are under stress. We expect them to perform in practice, and they work hard and believe in it.

“Our girls sprinters had their best times ever today, and a lot of other kids had their best times. So, across the board, it’s infectious.”

The Blazes caught the bug too.

“We had a lot of personal bests out there,” said Westbrook coach Dana Barrows. “We’ve really been training hard so it was a real surprise, real refreshing to see that the kids hard work has come to fruition. It’s nice to see the hard work really pays off for the kids. More than anything else it’s nice to see that the kids are having fun and they’re also swimming really great.”

Cape diver Bogie Foden set the tone at the outset when he posted a season-high 191 for six dives.

“I was standing it up, standing my dives up, getting my arms up on some of them,” said Foden, a junior who started diving his freshman year. “The two-and-a-half killed me. I would’ve broken 200. That’s one of my goals for the season.

“Eventually, I want to take down the record, which is 400 for 11 dives.”

With senior Laura Williamson pushing him, Foden has some added motivation.

“He’s going to be trying to catch me now,” said Williamson, whose personal best was a 206 in Cape’s previous meet. “I’ve got to keep him in mind.”

Everyone had to keep Westbrook freshman Kyle Goan in mind Friday. He didn’t just set personal bests in three events, he shattered his previous times. Goan took nine seconds off in the 500 freestyle (third place, 5:30.66), five seconds off in the 200 individual medley (third place, 2:18.72) and one second off in the 100 backstroke (third place, 1:04.43).

“In the 200 IM I wanted to take three seconds off and I took five,” said Goan. “And my goal in the 500 was a 5:33 and I went with a 5:30.”

So, what was the difference?

“Just hard work in practice, my coach pushing me hard,” he said. “It’s just hard work.”

The Westbrook boys also got strong performances from seniors Matt Violette and Jacob Wilson.

Violette won the 200 individual medley (2:08.71) and the 100 breaststroke (1:10.70) and finished second in the 500 free (5:11.51). Wilson, meanwhile, was first in the 100 butterfly (59.88) and 100 backstroke (1:00.19), while finishing second in the 200 free (1:57.67).

“I think we’re doing really well,” said Wilson. “I was not expecting this this year – everyone improving a lot and dropping a lot of time. We’re going to have good team going to states and right now we’re winning. It’s the best since I’ve been in high school, so I’m pretty pumped.”

The Westbrook girls were led by Leah Grabarz, who finished first in the 100 breaststroke (1:22.74). Other good performances came from Stephanie Lamson (third in the 200 IM), Kalia Kelly (third in the 500 free) and Tonya Mailman (third in the 100 back).

The girls’ spotlight belonged to Cape’s Helen Evans, though. She shaved four seconds off her personal best time to win the 200 IM (2:33.25).

“I think the backstroke felt pretty good because that’s kind of my stroke this year, but I didn’t really feel like I was going to take off four seconds,” said Evans. “We do dryland and swim almost every day, and we’re starting to do a lot more sprint work, so I think that helped a lot.”

Lilly Wennberg also set a personal best time while winning the 200 free for the Capers; she came in at 2:09.10.

“I felt really good,” she said. “I felt really smooth. Your arms feel really good when you know you’ve got it.”

The Capers also had first place finishes in the 200 medley relay (1:59.97), the 50 free (Nora Daly, 25.72), the 100 butterfly (Rosie Wennberg, 1:03.81), the 100 free (Kinsey Tarbell, 55.47), the 500 free (Emma Logan, 6:07.26), the 200 free relay (1:45.61), the 100 backstroke (Alexandra Ciraldo, 1:12.97) and the 400 free relay (4:00.35).

The Cape boys weren’t quite so dominant as a team, but junior Nick Daly dominated individually by winning the 200 free with a personal best time of 1:50.03 and going under five minutes (4:58.10) while winning the 500 free.

“Once I’m in the water, if I feel pretty loose and my stroke feels together, I know I’m usually going to get a best time,” said Daly.

The Cape boys also took the 200 medley relay (1:53.39), the 50 free (Reilly Taylor, 24.43), the 100 free (Taylor, 53.86), the 200 free relay (1:41.46) and the 400 free relay (3:39.15).