Buyukuncu Surfaces Among Prep Swimming’s Finest

As in past years, Orange County demonstrated that some of the best swimmers in the state and the nation are going to school behind the Orange Curtain. County athletes flexed their aquatic muscles in all three divisions of the Southern Section championships at Belmont Plaza, where many placed in final and consolation heats.

Mission Viejo’s boys powered through the South Coast season and section competition, winning league and Division I titles. And though they didn’t have the big-name swimmers Woodbridge had, the Diablos’ strength was their depth.

The Laguna Hills boys finished second in Division II and might have won the championship a second consecutive year had they placed a swimmer in the breaststroke final.

A strong Irvine girls’ team finished runner-up to Walnut at the Division III finals.

But it was really the individual accomplishments that made this swim season special.

The big names from the powerful South Coast and Sea View leagues dominated the field but didn’t overshadow some great individual performances by Los Alamitos’ Tim Haney, Kennedy’s brother-sister tandem of Tim and Wendy Martin and Laguna Hills’ Mark Kwok.

Sophomores seemed to be the operative word in the girls’ competition, with Irvine’s Wendy O’Brien and El Toro’s Katie Lowes leading the way. Other noteworthy swimmers were Capistrano Valley’s Cathy Carone, Kennedy’s Wendy Martin, Santa Ana Valley’s Amber Wines and El Toro’s Katie Simmons.

There was plenty of good swimming to be found among the boys, too, but the season belonged to Woodbridge’s Derya Buyukuncu.

At the section finals, the Turkish star came away with three records, including one in the 100 backstroke, where he broke his national record set last year at the same meet.

In the fall, Buyukuncu will attend Michigan. Those who had the chance to see him swim will remember it for a long time, but not as long, perhaps, as his records will stand.