Sea Kings' Boys Team Rules the Pool Against University

Corona del Mar's boys and girls swim teams were fully aware of the fact that University entered Friday afternoon’s meet as the team that provided the biggest challenge to the Sea Kings' chances at Pacific Coast League championships. With both school's boys and girls teams undefeated in league dual meets, something had to give.

The Sea King boys won six of 11 events to cruise past the Trojans, 99-71, while the girls won only four events in losing to University, 104-66, on a blustery day at Corona del Mar High.

Senior Matt Berry and junior Ari Marks of the Sea Kings provided the most exciting action of the day, as Berry got the better of his teammate in both the 50-yard freestyle and 100 free by just a matter of inches. Berry touched the wall in the 50 i  21.78 seconds, compared to Marks' time of 22.12. Corona del Mar swept the
event as sophomore Blake Motal finished third in 22.45.

It was even closer in the 100 free as Berry won by a fingernail, winning in 47.81 to Mark’s 47.83. Berry also swam the opening leg of the winning 200 free relay, which finished in 1:28.27, more than four seconds ahead of the Trojans.

“I was disappointed in my time in the 50 and wanted to be around 46 or 47 for my 100 free,” Berry said. “I’m happy with that time, but its midseason and my times are a little slow. That will improve by the end of the season.”

Of his duel with Marks, Berry said, “We were pushing each other because we knew they were really tough in the fly and IM events. We felt we needed to get as many points as possible in the freestyle events in order for us to get the win.”

Corona del Mar started the meet by winning the 200 medley relay in a time
of 1:38.16, their second-fastest time of the season, which impressed coach
Barry O’Dea. “That’s a very good start for us,” he said. “They haven’t been that fast for about a month and it was nice to see the effort that these boys gave.”

Their time was the third fastest in Orange County this season and was just under a second slower than the Sea Kings' fastest time of 1:37.50, achieved on March 12 during the Capistrano Valley Relays.

“It’s cold out here,” observed Jared Namba, who swam the opening leg and then explained, “We wanted to get off to a fast start, we really wanted this first one bad and knew we had to set the tone.”

Namba got out to an early lead in the backstroke, posting a split of 24.88 that was nearly two seconds faster than his nearest competitor. The Sea King junior also placed second in the 100 butterfly with a CIF qualifying time of 51.89.

The victory for the boys set the stage for what should be the meet of the year when the Sea Kings get together for a tri-meet with Capistrano Valley and Loyola, the top two teams in Southern California on April 19 at Capistrano Valley.

In the girls competition, Corona del Mar sophomore Brynne Wong won the 50 free and 100 fly in CIF qualifying times of 24.41 and 57.85, respectively. “I think we are a lot closer to their times than last year,” Wong said. “I thought I did pretty good but I still feel like I can do better.”

Wong's 57.85  is the fastest 100 fly this season in the county, bettering the previous top mark of 58.05 by Crean Lutheran South freshman Lindsey Engel. “I thought it was good," Wong said. "I didn’t know it was that good. I didn’t know it was the fastest in Orange County; that’s pretty cool.”

Despite the defeat, O’Dea was happy with his girls' performances. “All in all, I thought we did pretty well,” he said. “Being the next-best team in this meet isn’t a negative; not at all.’’