La Canada Swimmers Ready for CIF Championships

La Canada’s Katy Campbell already holds two school records in swimming. She’ll be looking to add a couple CIF Southern Section championships to her swimming resume this weekend.

Campbell leads a strong contingent from in the CIF Southern Section Division I swim finals at Riverside City College starting Thursday. She is the sixth-seeded swimmer in the 200 freestyle and has also qualified for the 500 freestyle.

But she has bigger plans than the CIF swim finals. She is headed to the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials in Omaha, Neb., in June and will compete in two events, the 400 freestyle and the 800 freestyle.

She and her club coach adjusted her training schedule to prepare for the Olympic Trials. She might not be at her fastest for the CIF finals, but she isn’t the only swimmer at the meet who also has the Olympic Trials on her horizon.

“I’m just training,” Campbell said. “I’m getting a ton of support from my team, from my school and from my coach.”

Her La Canada teammate, Bo Mattix, has Olympic Trial aspirations as well. He has not qualified for the Olympic Trials yet, but he is close in the 100 backstroke. He will try to bring his time down at a meet in Irvine in a couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, he is qualified in two events for the CIF Southern Section championships. He will be competing in the 100 backstroke and the 100 butterfly. Mattix, who holds the school record in the 100 butterfly already, is the third-seeded swimmer entering the meet in the 100 backstroke.

“I think that I can improve,” Mattix said. “I want to go 49 (seconds) untapered. I usually swim kind of bad when I’m off taper. I really want to try to push it this time and get it in the 100 back.”

Jared Namba from Corona del Mar is the top seed in the 100 backstroke at 49.40 seconds. Mattix’s fastest time is 50.89 seconds. The school record is 50.29 seconds set by Ian Mirisola in 2008.

Sarah Olson has qualified for the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle for the CIF Southern Section championships. She is the fourth-seeded swimmer in the 50 freestyle and is one of a handful of swimmers who are closing in on the Division I meet record.

Her fastest time in the 50 freestyle is 23.80 seconds. The meet record is 22.75 seconds set by Courtney Cashion from Irvine High in 2004. Abbey Weitzeil, a freshman at Saugus High School, is the top seed in the 50 freestyle at 23.38 seconds.

“In the 50, I’m really excited I’m seeded fourth,” Olson said. “I’ll be next to the top seed in prelims which will give me a great chance at knowing where I stand. Hopefully I’ll make it back on Saturday. I’m hoping that I’ll keep dropping this week and hopefully come home with a medal after CIF’s over.”

Brandon Nguyen heads into the CIF Southern Section championships as the second-seeded swimmer in the 200 freestyle. Corey Obuku from University has the top time at 1:51.29. Nguyen’s best time is 1:52.17.

“The second place position has a lot of pressure,” Nguyen said. “It’s almost first, but not first. It’s  not last. It’s not 10^th place. I think I have to swim all my heart out. I put all the hard work into it. Now I just have to race and just race Corey.”

Kirsten Vose is among the top qualifiers in the 100 breaststroke. She is the third-seeded swimmer in the event. Maggie Burton has the fastest time at 1:04.46. Vose’s best time is 1:04.71.

The CIF Southern Section prelims begin Thursday morning. The finals are Saturday night at Riverside City College starting at 5.