PREP SWIMMING ROUNDUP : Fountain Valley Girls Respond to Challenge

It was clear from the beginning of the 23rd Foothill Swim Games on Saturday that the Fountain Valley girls’ team was on everybody’s hit list.

“Our coach really wanted us to go hard against Fountain Valley,” El Toro junior Katie Simmons said. “We already knew Irvine would be tough, but we really would like to beat Fountain Valley. Especially since they beat us at CIF relays.”

The mood was echoed by Wendy O’Brien, Irvine’s top swimmer.

“They sort of just came out of nowhere,” O’Brien said. “I really never thought they had such a good team. So it would be good to beat them.”

But Fountain Valley proved it is no fluke, winning the girls’ competition with 320 points, 18 points ahead of El Toro and 81 points ahead of Irvine, which was third.

“Yeah, I know a lot of teams were after us. Especially since we won the CIF relays a few weeks ago,” Fountain Valley Coach Debbi Kelly said. “But I think we showed them that we are a team to be reckoned with and we can compete with the best of them.” Bold words for a coach who just a few hours earlier was uncertain how her girls would do at the 19-team competition.

“I really wasn’t sure if we could win this, especially since we’re missing one of our top swimmers,” Kelly said. Grace Wang, one of the county’s top freestylers, didn’t compete because of a broken hand she suffered earlier in the week. “With Grace out, we were missing a vital person in our relays and in the individual events,” Kelly said.

The Barons still managed to be impressive, finishing second in the 400-yard freestyle relay, which was the last event and the one that determined the meet’s winner. Although Capistrano Valley won the event in 3:41.22, Jennifer McCoy’s time of 54.08 seconds on the anchor leg for Fountain Valley was enough to hold off a charging Katie Lowes of El Toro.

“Jennifer’s split time was a personal best for her,” Kelly said. “She was swimming her heart out, as all these (Fountain Valley) girls did.”

Fountain Valley’s 200 medley relay team of Kristy Tjoa, Shelly Olivadoti, Chrissy Motschman and Vinessa Tjoa also won in 1:52.67.

For the boys, Foothill overcame two strong teams in Marina and Irvine to capture the title with 301 points. Marina was second with 290 and Irvine was third with 272. In combined scores, Irvine was first with 511.5 points, followed by Marina (453) and El Toro (409).

In the boys’ individual events, Philippe Demers of Santa Margarita set a meet record of 50.96 in the 100-yard butterfly, breaking the mark of 51.75, which Foothill’s Ron Scott set in 1988.

“I’ve been dying at the finishes of my races lately,” Demers said. “But I felt good throughout the race and I knew If I could have a strong finish I could break the record.”

Demers, who was named the top male swimmer of the meet, also won the 200 freestyle in 1:43.29.

Amber Wines of Santa Ana Valley set a record in the 100 breaststroke. Her time of 1:04.33 surpassed her mark of 1:04.77, which she set a year ago.

Other notables included O’Brien, who won the 50 free (24.20) and the 100 free (52.19), holding off Lowes, who finished in 52.19.

“I was hurting so bad at the end of the race,” said O’Brien, who was the top female at the meet. “I knew Katie (Lowes) was going to go after me. My coach and dad wanted me to go after the record. But all I wanted to do was just win the race.”

Steve Ronson of Irvine was a double winner, posting the fastest 100 breaststroke time (58.84) in the county this season. Ronson’s other victory came in the 100 free (47.72). Marina’s Alison Mijares swam the 500 free in 5:03.92, also a top mark in the county this year.

El Toro’s Simmons turned in a personal best in the 200 individual medley (2:10.42), the second-fastest time so far in the county. Capistrano Valley’s Cathy Carone, also a double winner, recorded the two fastest county times this year in the 100 fly (59.09) and the 100 backstroke (59.36).

In the Mission Viejo Invitational:

Mission Viejo rolls--Goh Phuangthong won the 200 individual medley (1:53.40), 500 freestyle (4:36.84) and helped the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay teams finish first as Mission Viejo won the boys’ title.

Mission Viejo’s Bart Kiziercwski set meet records in the 50 freestyle (20.80) and 100 backstroke (50.79) for the Diablos, who finished with 430 points, well ahead of second-place Laguna Hills’ 263 points.

Sonora’s Aaron Jenkins won the one-meter diving event with a score of 475.95.

On the girls’ side, Mission Viejo’s Cheryl Murphy won the 200 individual medley (2:10.3) and 100 backstroke (58.9). Arika Early won the one meter diving competition with 476.0 points for the Diablos.