BOYS’ SWIMMING : No Longer Just a Face in the Pool

The most memorable moment of Chad Carvin’s high school swim career was not one of his patented blow ‘em-out-of-the-water, eat-my-wake victories. In fact, it wasn’t any kind of a victory.

No, the race the Laguna Hills High School senior said he will always remember was one he lost. His last one.

It was the 400-yard freestyle relay. The Hawks, who trailed Walnut, needed to win the race to win the Southern Section 2-A championship.

Carvin, swimming the anchor leg, came from way back to finish second, losing by the length of a finger--maybe the fingernail.

“I hit the water and I didn’t think I could catch him,” Carvin said. “Then I saw him dying with 75 yards to go. That helped me go even harder. He just barely touched me out.”

As he did in that race, Carvin--The Times Orange County boys’ swimmer of the year--has been coming on strong the last few years.

Carvin, just another face in the pool as a freshman, worked to improve and became one of the top freestyle swimmers in the section.

This year, he set 2-A records in the 500 freestyle (4 minutes 21.10 seconds) and 200 freestyle (1:37.80). He broke his own record in the 500 and Chad Hundeby’s (Woodbridge) record in the 200.

“Actually, I was hoping to go a little faster in the 500,” Carvin said, “but it will do.”

Such accomplishments weren’t even dreams, let alone goals, as a freshman. Carvin finished 10th in the 500 and didn’t even qualify for the consolation final in the 200. Back then, he was just a kid with some potential, most of it untapped.

What changed was his club team. Or rather, he changed club teams.

Carvin quit the South Coast Aquatic team after his coach left. He moved up the road to the Saddleback Valley Swim Club, where he began two-a-day workouts. He also began training 10 times per week, instead of five.

“About three weeks later, I noticed I was already swimming faster than my best times,” Carvin said. “I realized I could do better.”

A lot better.

Carvin, who has signed a letter of intent with Arizona, won the 200 freestyle in the 2-A meet and finished second in the 500 freestyle as a sophomore. The next year, he won both events, setting the 2-A record in the 500 and coming within a half-second of breaking the record in the 200.

“My goal at the start of this season was to break both records,” Carvin said. “As a freshman, I couldn’t even dream about doing something like that.”

Carvin also improved tremendously in U.S. swimming circles.

Last year, he finished seventh in the 1,500 at the U.S. swimming senior nationals and was named rookie of the meet. This year, he qualified for the Olympic trials.

Carvin finished 10th in the 1,500 and 13th in the 400.

“I had my best times in everything,” Carvin said. “You can’t do better than that.”

The only thing that didn’t go Carvin’s way this year was the 2-A team championship.

The Hawks won the title when he was a sophomore and finished second last year. This time, Carvin thought they had a good chance of reclaiming the championship.

“We weren’t suppose to be in it, but we took it down to the last event,” Carvin said. “It was pretty exciting.”

And, thanks to Carvin, pretty close.

The Times’ All-County Boys’ Swimming

FIRST TEAM

Swimmer(s) School Yr. Event John Simmons El Toro Jr. 200 medley relay Jay Reaves So. Mike Greene Sr. Daniel Julson Jr. Chad Carvin Laguna Hills Sr. 200 freestyle Marcin Malinski Mission Viejo Sr. 200 individual medley Todd Wines Santa Ana Valley Jr. 50 freestyle Frank Tsau Huntington Beach So. 100 butterfly Calvin Weiss Kennedy Sr. 100 freestyle Chad Carvin Laguna Hills Sr. 500 freestyle Brian Ronson Irvine Sr. 200 freestyle relay Jason Lezak Jr. Jason Ekinaka Sr. Curtis Bowman Sr. John Simmons El Toro Jr. 100 backstroke Marcin Malinski Mission Viejo Sr. 100 breaststroke Adam Grodzki Mission Viejo Jr. 400 freestyle relay John Lisabeth So. Matt Turnbull Sr. Marcin Malinski Sr. Nate Smith Dana Hills Sr. One-meter diving

Swimmer(s) Time John Simmons 1:37.48 Jay Reaves Mike Greene Daniel Julson Chad Carvin 1:37.80 Marcin Malinski 1:49.13 Todd Wines 21.30 Frank Tsau 51.02 Calvin Weiss 45.45 Chad Carvin 4:21.10 Brian Ronson 1:26.59 Jason Lezak Jason Ekinaka Curtis Bowman John Simmons 50.18 Marcin Malinski 57.24 Adam Grodzki 3:08.45 John Lisabeth Matt Turnbull Marcin Malinski Nate Smith 516.90 points

SECOND TEAM

Swimmer(s) School Yr. Event Suichi Matsumoto Laguna Hills Sr. 200 medley relay Ian Gilbert Sr. Dustin Burns Jr. Preston Hammontree Fr. Adam Grodzki Mission Viejo Jr. 200 freestyle Suichi Matsumoto Laguna Hills Sr. 200 individual medley Bill Brown Brea-Olinda Sr. 50 freestyle Cito Vasconcellos El Modena Sr. 100 butterfly John Simmons El Toro Jr. 100 freestyle Adam Grodzki Mission Viejo Jr. 500 freestyle Randy Larson Villa Park Sr. 200 freestyle relay Paul Brockmeier Sr. Matt Cornue So. Kevin Bobzien So. Suichi Matsumoto Laguna Hills Sr. 100 backstroke Brett Bhesania La Quinta Jr. 100 breaststroke Suichi Matsumoto Laguna Hills Sr. 400 freestyle relay Ian Gilbert Sr. Mark Kwok Fr. Chad Carvin Sr. Tyce Routson El Toro So. One-Meter Diving

Swimmer(s) Time Suichi Matsumoto 1:38.52 Ian Gilbert Dustin Burns Preston Hammontree Adam Grodzki 1:39.44 Suichi Matsumoto 1:51.16 Bill Brown 21.40 Cito Vasconcellos 51.46 John Simmons 45.65 Adam Grodzki 4:25.80 Randy Larson 1:27.12 Paul Brockmeier Matt Cornue Kevin Bobzien Suichi Matsumoto 51.55 Brett Bhesania 58.72 Suichi Matsumoto 3:08.71 Ian Gilbert Mark Kwok Chad Carvin Tyce Routson 507.35 points