{"id":5094,"date":"2026-05-12T16:16:56","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T16:16:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=5094"},"modified":"2026-05-12T16:16:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T16:16:56","slug":"orange-county-swimmers-blaze-to-improvements-at-cif-ss-division-1-prelims-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=5094","title":{"rendered":"Orange County swimmers blaze to improvements at CIF-SS Division 1 prelims"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><em>Support our high school sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber.\u00a0Subscribe now<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=5093\">In-N-Out Burger and Taco Bell win praise for value and quality<\/a><\/p>\n<p>WALNUT \u2014 Newcomers setting records on a relay. Former junior varsity members advancing to the finals for a CIF Southern Section juggernaut. And an All-County performer clocking a best time for high school.<\/p>\n<p>Orange County swimmers brought those stories of improvement, and a few others, to the surface Thursday at the CIF-SS Division 1 preliminaries at Mt. SAC.<\/p>\n<p>Santa Margarita\u2019s boys and girls, the reigning Division 1 champions, again pushed the current and set the stage for the finals Saturday at 10 a.m.<\/p>\n<p>The Eagles\u2019 boys 200-yard freestyle relay broke its still-drying Orange County record and wiped away the Division 1 meet record with a time of 1 minutes, 21.60 seconds.<\/p>\n<p>The team of Tyler Lee (20.82 seconds), Adam Cuthbert (20.35), Carson Eich (20.40) and anchor Bennett Korner (20.03) broke their county record of 1:21.97 from the Trinity League finals on May 1. They also edged Loyola\u2019s 2023 Division 1 record of 1:21.66.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe didn\u2019t think we were going to go that fast,\u201d Santa Margarita co-coach Rich Blanc said. \u201cThe only one who returned on that relay from last year was Bennett Korner. The other three guys, they were good but they weren\u2019t on that relay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the start of the year, (co-coach) Ron (Blanc) and I were looking at our boys sprinters as our weak spot,\u201d the coach added. \u201cThey\u2019ve just really grown into it. They\u2019re a lot of seniors and they\u2019ve just continued to improve. Now, the sprints are our strength.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Loyola coach Kevin Mann noticed. He joked with the Santa Margarita relay, featuring three seniors and one junior, about breaking the Cubs\u2019 record in prelims.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur team effort, with how meshed we are, is really the most important part,\u201d Lee said. \u201cIt\u2019s only prelims. I feel like we have a lot left in the tank for finals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Santa Margarita\u2019s boys and girls positioned themselves well for finals by racing fast and avoiding disqualifications on the relays.<\/p>\n<p>The boys racked up 26 individual entries for finals while the girls earned 22.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Santa Margarita boys are aiming for a sixth straight Division 1 title while the girls are seeking a record 12th consecutive section crown.<\/p>\n<p>Santa Margarita\u2019s girls graduated a dozen seniors last year, including standout Teagan O\u2019Dell, but can surpass Mission Viejo\u2019s run of 11 consecutive girls swimming titles from 1976-1986.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe girls were saying \u2018A lot of people think we\u2019re not going to win it this year because of 12 girls lost,\u2019 Rich Blanc said. \u201cAll season, we\u2019re like, \u2018Keep working hard and we\u2019ll see what happens.\u2019 We\u2019ll see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe had a lot of girls who were on the JV team last year who are here now,\u201d the coach added. \u201cWe had one girl (senior Angela Lim), she was fifth in the 50 free today. Last year, she was on the JV team, so lots of great improvements.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Corona del Mar\u2019s Sofia Szymanowski flashed her improvement in the 100 breaststroke. The junior qualified first with a school-record 1:00.33, her fastest time in high school.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=5092\">Great Park Live hosts another season of live music; the venue\u2019s tenant could stay until 2030<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Szymanowski, who is committed to Michigan, has dipped under a minute with the Irvine Novaquatics in club but is aiming to become the third O.C. girl ever to break the barrier in a high school meet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was so happy with that (prelim time),\u201d she said. \u201c(Breaking one minute) is so hard. I really want to do it again because I\u2019ve only broken a minute one time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Szymanowski was among the swimmers from the Novaquatics\u2019 training group at Los Cab to excel in prelims.<\/p>\n<p>Fountain Valley\u2019s Alyssa Ton qualified first in the 200 (1:45.95) and 500 (4:45.27) freestyles. The junior also led off the 400 free relay with a 49.50.<\/p>\n<p>Northwood\u2019s Andrew Maksymowski earned top seeds in the 200 (1:35.93) and 500 (4:26.58) freestyles.<\/p>\n<p>Other notable improvements came from JSerra\u2019s Nolan Baker and Corona del Mar\u2019s Ethan Lim.<\/p>\n<p>Baker grabbed the top seed in the 100 free with a season-best 44.45 while Lim qualified first in the breaststroke in a county-leading 54.98.<\/p>\n<p>Newport Harbor\u2019s Connor Ohl qualified second in the 100 free (44.51) and first in the 50 (20.13).<\/p>\n<p>Woodbridge and San Clemente appear headed toward a close duel for second place in the girls competition.<\/p>\n<p>San Clemente\u2019s girls medley relay of freshman Wren Collins, junior Neva Phillips, freshman Macie Weingarten and senior Zoe de Fabrique qualified first with a school-record 1:44.41.<\/p>\n<p>Woodbridge\u2019s Isabella Parker (50.39) and Tanja Amizic (50.66) finished first and second, respectively, in the 100 free. Amizic later secured the top seed in the backstroke at 55.18.<\/p>\n<p>Santa Monica sophomore Gabriella Brito emerged as the top individual of prelims.<\/p>\n<p>She showcased her strong underwater skills to break Olympian Katie McLaughlin\u2019s meet record in the 100 butterfly with a 51.41. Brito also qualified first in the 50 in a lifetime-best 21.93.<\/p>\n<p>Brito set pool records in both races.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt helps me so much,\u201d she said of her underwater technique. \u201cI\u2019m excited for Saturday.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\ud83d\udc40Santa Monica\u2019s Gabriella Brito throws down 21.93, three tenths off Olympian Abbey Weitzeil\u2019s D1 rec of 21.64 \u2066@OCVswimdive\u2069 pic.twitter.com\/RTCkLlcAEb<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Dan Albano (@ocvarsityguy) May 7, 2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>DIVISION 4<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sophomore Ryan Ham won the 500 free in 4:42.38 to become the first Pacifica Christian swimmer to capture a section title.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=5091\">Six Orange County divers to compete at CIF State championships on Thursday<\/a><\/p>\n<p>La Habra\u2019s girls and Fullerton\u2019s boys each placed fourth to lead county schools.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Santa Margarita&#8217;s boys 200-yard medley sets Orange County and Division 1 records to highlight qualifying for Saturday&#8217;s finals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-facts","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - 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