SOUTHERN SECTION SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS : Mission Viejo and Buena Win 4-A Team Titles

Rio Mesa High Coach Erik Gustafson could have used some help from his kids at the CIF Southern Section 4-A swimming finals.

Not that his kids didn’t do well. They did great. His son Joel, a senior, won the boys’ 50 freestyle with a time of 21.27 seconds. His daughter Abby, a sophomore, won the girls’ 50 free with a time of 24.48.

Too bad for dad that his kids swim for Buena High and not for his own squad.

In the end it didn’t seem to matter too much as Mission Viejo won the boys title and Buena won the girls title.

Marcin Malinski led the Mission Viejo boys’ team by setting a Southern Section record in the 200 individual medley. Malinski’s time of 1:49.13 beat Jesse Vassallo’s mark of 1:49.80 set in 1979. Malinski also won the 100 breaststroke.

For Mission Viejo it was the first victory in the 4-A Division after finishing second to San Marino the past three years.

It is the first 4-A Division title for Buena.

“We thought we had a good chance because we had a lot of swimmers. Capistrano Valley had a big early lead because of the diving, but they didn’t have the girls in the swimming event,” Buena Coach Bob Siman said. “We thought it would come down to us and Mission Viejo.”

The Capistrano Valley girls’ team had some coaches concerned because it took a 51-point advantage into the swimming competition by winning four of the top five places.

“I love diving,” Capistrano Valley Coach Bob Skelley Coach said. “It is called the Swimming and Diving championships--we’ll take points anywhere we can get them.”

Capistrano Valley’s Lisa Jacobs won the 500 freestyle (4:50.60) and the 200 freestyle (1:49.44).