GIRLS’ SWIMMING AND DIVING ’94 : It’s Different Strokes for Irvine’s Very Different Sisters

The swimmers are holding court on a grassy hill behind the Heritage Park swimming complex. They’re listening to Alice Huszcz, the Court Jester, as older sister Monica smiles and shakes her head.

Apparently, she’s heard this shtick at home a time or two.

Listening to Alice is the auditory equivalent of a 90 m.p.h. car wreck. Easy-listening Monica keeps it at the speed limit.

“Monica is an introvert compared to Alice,” Irvine girls’ Coach Scott Hinman said. “Of course, everyone in the world is an introvert compared to Alice.”

Alice is proud of her label: “I’m loud, she’s shy.”

“I’m not shy, I’m quiet, compared to you ,” Monica shot back.

Together, they form the backbone of the Irvine girls’ swim team. At the 1993 Division II Southern Section meet, they helped catapult the Vaqueros to a third-place finish.

Both were members of the second-place 400-yard freestyle and third-place 200 free relay teams, Irvine’s only top three finishes of the meet. Individually, Monica, now a senior, was 11th in the 200 free and ninth in the 500 free. Alice, a junior, was ninth in the 100 free but failed to qualify in the 200 individual medley.

Hinman believes the sisters weren’t at the top of their games during the postseason and sees a different ending this time around.

“Last year, Monica didn’t peak at the end, so we didn’t see the drops we hoped for,” he said. “Alice had some great 200 IM times during the middle of the season, then she started to get away from that.

“For Monica, the drop from Division I the first two years was a new experience. I don’t know if she was mentally ready to be out in front, to get out of her comfort zone. We’re going to take a different mental approach with her this year. Alice? We’re just going to get her excited and see what happens. The key is not to make them out-think themselves.”

But they can’t help but think about the time standards that have, frustratingly so, eluded them over the years. Alice gets ticked when she thinks about the one senior time--she has two--she needs to move into the Novaquatics senior group.

“That crushes me,” Alice said. “All my friends have moved up. I haven’t.”

Monica seethes about not making junior nationals and the plateau she has hit in her 200 and 500 free times.

“I should be able to drop my times, but a big part of it is I’m afraid to cross that barrier,” she said.

If they’re going to meet their respective goals, now’s the time. The Huszcz sisters have swum their fastest times during the three-month high school season and find special joys in high school competition that the club experience can’t duplicate.

Alice on the social benefits: “You motivate each other more, you work together more. You just get so pumped up and excited.”

Monica on the practical pluses: “In club you have so many meets to focus on. In high school, you have league finals and CIF.”

Individually, they have different goals for this prep season. Monica wants to place in the section meet; Alice, who made the qualifying cut in five events last year, wants to make the time standards in all eight events.

Hinman sees their swimming styles as extensions of their personalities. Monica goes the distance; Alice specializes in sprints.

“Alice has a more explosive personality, and you have that quality in sprinting,” Hinman said. “Monica is more calculating, so it makes sense that she’s in the longer races.”

Their contrasting styles and personalities come in handy as motivational tools for the rest of the team. Swimmers who look to them for direction see different ways to reach their goals.

“I like it because no one gets sucked into one approach,” Hinman said. “Alice is the type to jump up and down and get all excited, and her excitement gets other swimmers going. Monica thinks more about what she’s doing. Other swimmers see it’s OK to gear inward.”

As any healthy sibling rivalry goes, Monica and Alice seem to disagree on principle. But when it comes to team goals for this season, they are in harmony: Both want to improve on last year’s third-place team finish.

“I think we’ll do well,” Monica said with some caution.

“We can win it,” Alice said without missing a beat. “With the swimmers we have back and the new ones coming up, we can win.”

Girls’ Swimming and Diving at a Glance

Other Top Swimmers: Division I--Amy Clark, Brea-Olinda, Sr.; Lauren Davis, Fountain Valley, Sr.; Colleen Donald, El Modena, Sr.; Barbara Hajduczek, Katella, Sr.; Lisa Hess, Canyon, Sr.; Nancy Jo, El Dorado, So.; Michelle Kagy, Edison, Sr.; Robyn Kracik, Brea-Olinda, Sr.; Mary Krill, Villa Park, Jr.; Teresa Mauck, San Clemente, Jr.; Shelly Olivadoti, Fountain Valley, Jr.; Rori Rangel, Valencia, Jr.; Marissa Reveal, San Clemente, Sr.; Vinessa Tjoa, Fountain Valley, Sr.; Sachi White, Brea-Olinda, Sr.; Amber Wines, Santa Ana Valley, So. Division II--Anna Armstrong, Sunny Hills, So.; Rachel Arrow, Newport Harbor, Jr.; Andrea Buhagiar, Mater Dei, So.; Megan Cassidy, Laguna Hills, Sr.; Melanie Chiang, Mater Dei, Sr.; Jennifer Connellan, Santa Margarita, Jr.; Mackinley Culp, Brethren Christian, Sr.; Mandi Dobbs, Sunny Hills, So.; Helena Flack, University, Sr.; Lisa Henningson, Santa Margarita, Jr.; Giana Johnson, Laguna Hills, Jr.; Jaimee Lindstrom, Woodbridge, Jr.; Victoria Livingston, Sonora, Jr.; Brooke Martin, Santa Margarita, Jr.; Dana Nakaya, Woodbridge, Sr.; Tassanee Payakapan, Sunny Hills, Jr.; Steffany Pearce, Sonora, Jr.; Melanie Pells, Corona del Mar, Jr.; Susie Ruland, Trabuco Hills, Sr.; Melissa Schutz, Newport Harbor, Jr. Division III--Wendy Martin, Kennedy, Sr.; Elena Weiss, Pacifica, Jr.

Other Top Divers: Division II--Wendy Chase, Santa Margarita, Jr.; Megan Edmunds, Santa Margarita, Sr.; Caroline Kelley, Santa Margarita, Jr.; Erin McGinty, Santa Margarita, Jr.; Sandy Zubrin, Corona del Mar, Jr.

League Favorites: Century: Villa Park; Empire: Los Alamitos; Freeway: Sunny Hills; Garden Grove: Kennedy; Pacific Coast: Trabuco Hills; Orange: Brea-Olinda; Sea View: Irvine; South Coast: El Toro; Sunset: Marina.

Key Dates: Southern Section Relays, March 26; Foothill Swim Games, April 23; Southern Section Divison I and II preliminaries, May 12; Division III preliminaries and Division I finals, May 13; Division II and III finals, May 14.

Notes: Division I--Two of the section’s quickest athletes, champions Kella Hoblick (El Dorado, 200-yard individual medley, 100 breaststroke) and Terah Gisolo (Mission Viejo, 50 freestyle) have transferred. Hoblick went to Fresno, Gisolo to Texas. . . . Villa Park lost Catherine Pharris to graduation but will benefit from the addition of Tea Lindberg, a foreign exchange student from Denmark, who has potential top 12 times in four events. . . . Division II--Newport Harbor has lost section freestyle qualifier sophomore Shannon Sweeney for the season because of an injury.