Tustin Swim Team Wins Championship

A local team won the championship in an age-group swimming meet last month in Arizona, where 25 teams from Arizona, California and Nevada competed.

Six swimmers from the Southern California Aquatics Assn. of Tustin won medals in the Lost Dutchman invitational swimming championship held at Arizona State University’s swim stadium Feb. 18 to 21.

Ryan Utsumi captured the gold in the boys 13- to 14-year-old bracket to lead the Tustin team to the overall championship.

Four of Utsumi’s teammates won a silver, and one received a bronze. Fifty-five swimmers represented the team, which is also the Orange County champion. The silver medalists were Cory Tague, Robert Arroyo, Maikhanh Nguyen and Jarrod Cruzat. Chris Meyer won a bronze.

“It was a great team effort,” said Everett Uchiyama, the team’s head coach.

The team, which has 150 members, works out at the Foothill and Tustin high school pools. There are 115 members from Tustin and Santa Ana. The rest are from around the county, Uchiyama said.