SWIMMING / MISSION VIEJO MEET OF CHAMPIONS : Day’s Races Produce Winners of All Ages

The winners at the Mission Viejo Swim Meet of Champions on Saturday ranged from Crissy Ahmann-Leighton, 25, to Amanda Beard, 13, who was the youngest competitor at the four-day meet.

Ahmann-Leighton, who has a 20-month-old son, demonstrated the form that earned her two gold medals in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics by winning the 50-meter freestyle in 26.73 at the Marguerite Swim Complex.

“The best thing about swimming is that it doesn’t matter how old you are or how many kids you have, it all depends on what you have inside,” Ahmann-Leighton said.

Beard, who swims for the Irvine Novaquatics, performed like a veteran in the 200-meter breaststroke.

She paced herself for the first 150 meters, then pulled away from the pack, which included meet record-holder Kristine Quance of Trojan Swim Club, to win in 2:31.21, 3.42 seconds better than Quance.

Another swimmer who enjoyed a successful day was Chad Carvin, who swam for Laguna Hills High and now trains with Hillenbrand Swim Club in Tucson.

Carvin, who won the 800-meter freestyle Thursday and the 400 freestyle Friday, earned his third consecutive victory with a time of 1:52.54 in the 200 freestyle. He also finished second in the 400 individual medley.

Carvin will try for two more first-place medals when he swims the 1,500 freestyle and 200 individual medley today.

“I think early in the season you’ve got to race a lot of events to test yourself and try to get better,” Carvin said. “This is by far the best meet I’ve had this summer.”

Janet Evans af Placentia tried to match Carvin’s three victories in the freestyle events, but came up short in the 200 freestyle with a fourth-place time of 2:04.75. Katie Brambley of the Island Swim Club won in 2:03.07 and Mission Viejo’s Lisa Jacob was second in 2:04.26.

“I think I’ve got to work on my speed because I don’t think I was out fast enough,” Evans said. “But for this time of season, a fourth is good for me. It’s about what I thought it would be.”

Mission Viejo Nadadores’ Bart Kizierowski, who will swim for Poland in the European Nationals in August, produced a third-place finish in the 50 freestyle with a time 23.88.

“I did a pretty good time, so I’m happy with that for this part of the season,” he said.

In the men’s 800-freestyle relay, Mission Viejo won with a time of 7:43.02, followed by the Trojan Swim Club in 7:51.86 and Hillenbrand in 7:53.04.

Hillenbrand took first in the women’s 800-freestyle relay with a time of 8:28.37. The Trojan Swim Club finished a close second in 8:28.78 and Mission Viejo was third in 8:40.19.

In the men’s 200 breaststroke, Ron Karnaugh, a former Nadadores swimmer, took first with a time of 2:21.71.

Unattached Alison Fealey won the 400 individual medal in 4:52.79 with strong kick in the last 50 meters.