CdM boys’ swimming finishes strong to beat Newport Harbor in Battle of the Bay

When the Newport Harbor High boys’ swimming team beat rival Corona del Mar in the Battle of the Bay meet last year, it ended the Sea Kings’ nine-year winning streak over their Back Bay rivals.

Sailors coach Ross Sinclair talked facetiously after that meet about starting a 500-year winning streak on the other side of the bay. As it turned out, the Sailors weren’t able to start a winning streak at all.

On senior day at the Sea Kings’ pool on Thursday, CdM had sizable contributions from several seniors. The Sea Kings boys took back the Battle of the Bay meet, dominating the back half to earn a 93-77 victory.

Newport Harbor’s girls won the rivalry meet for the third straight year, beating rival CdM 102-67.

CdM’s boys had the win clinched before the Sailors won the meet-ending 400-yard freestyle relay. CdM senior Ryan Schildwachter (59.80 seconds), junior Robert Genc (1 minute 2.36 seconds) and freshman Eugene Lim (1:04.22) swept the top three spots in the 100 breaststroke to clinch it.

“It’s a big deal for them,” CdM boys’ swim coach Kareem Captan said. “I mean, listen, any time you can beat Harbor it’s a big deal for our boys. Before the meet, I had them in the team room and I laid out the entire meet. I said, ‘This is exactly where I need you guys finishing.’ The first couple of events happened exactly the way I said it was going to happen, so I think as the meet went on, they started believing … and they had some of their best swims today.”

In perhaps the day’s most exciting race, CdM also became the first team to beat Newport Harbor in the 200 free relay this year in a dual meet. The Sea Kings’ Liam Mickelsen, Tanner Pulice, Henry Wilde and Davis Wong touched first in 1:27.64, edging Newport Harbor’s Nick Halphide, Jason Grew, Michael Paduano and Max Sandberg (1:27.89).

“That was a big turning point,” said Captan, who saw Pulice (53.93) and Wilde (55.24) earn the top two spots in the following event, the backstroke. “When the boys won the 200 free [relay], I think that’s what really turned the corner for us. It definitely fired the guys up, and they were motivated. Those guys wanted to win that thing bad.”

Pulice also won the 200 individual medley in a season-best 1:56.21 and was part of the Sea Kings’ winning medley relay team, which also featured Wilde, Schildwachter and Wong and touched in 1:38.55. The Sea Kings were able to overcome Wilde getting disqualified in the 50 free, negating a second-place finish. He said his right leg twitched on the blocks.

“It’s great to end with a win [against] Newport,” Wilde said. “We all know what happened in water polo [when we lost the Battle of the Bay game 8-2]. It’s good that we got another shot at them.”

Halphide and Sandberg were both double-winners for the Sailors. Halphide won the 200 freestyle (1:48.49) and butterfly (53.31), while Sandberg claimed the 100 free (48.83) and the 50 free (21.78). Overall, though, Sinclair said it was tough for his team after Tuesday’s big win over Los Alamitos that helped the Sailors complete an undefeated Sunset League dual meet season.

“We were way slower today,” Sinclair said. “Not everybody, but yeah, definitely I think it was hard to back up Tuesday. You could kind of see it in some of the guys. It was tough.”

Akira Morita won the 500 free for CdM in 4:53.88.

On the girls’ side, the Spitz sisters led with a pair of wins for Newport Harbor, which also won all three relays. Ayla Spitz won the 200 IM in 2:03.71 and the 100 free in 51.24, while Zoe Spitz won the 50 free in 24.86 and the butterfly in 58.46.

Carly Yasko won the 200 free (1:57.61) and Dinny Stevens won the 500 free (5:16.69) for Newport Harbor.

CdM got event wins from sophomore Leora Rose, who out-touched Stevens to win the backstroke (1:02.03), and freshman Michelle Tekawy in the breaststroke (1:06.29). Tekawy has not lost the breaststroke in a dual meet this season, CdM girls’ swim coach Justin Papa said.

Tekawy, who finished second to Ayla Spitz in the individual medley, is part of a strong freshman class for the CdM girls. Freshman Karsyn Cook was second in the 50 free and 100 butterfly on Thursday.

Both Back Bay teams now prepare for next week’s league finals. CdM competes in the Pacific Coast League finals at Northwood High on May 4, while Newport Harbor is at the Sunset League finals at Golden West College on the same day.

matthew.szabo@latimes.com

Twitter: @mjszabo