Keeping Head Above Water, Gilman Had a Triple Double

Rebecca Gilman is so good not even a strength-sapping illness could keep her from winning championships.

The Buena High junior won the 200- and 500-yard freestyles at the Southern Section Division I swimming championships last month, the third consecutive year she won both events.

Buena cruised to its third consecutive section title, largely because of Gilman, who also swam legs on two victorious relay teams.

For the second consecutive season, she is The Times’ regional girls’ swimmer of the year.

She accomplished all of this while apparently suffering from thyroiditis, a disease with symptoms similar to mononucleosis.

“Some days are so bad, walking up the stairs at school is tough,” Gilman said.

Doctors will experiment with medication over the next several months to combat Gilman’s condition. She still plans to swim a full schedule this summer, starting with the Mission Viejo Meet of Champions next week in Orange County and continuing through the U.S. Senior Nationals in August.

“This summer might be a tough stretch for me, knowing I’m not as strong as I used to be or will be again,” Gilman said. “It’s a temporary setback for my training, but it is only temporary. It’s actually a relief to know exactly what is wrong.”

In the Division I meet, Gilman won the 200 in 1 minute 49.43 seconds, nearly three seconds faster than Katie Lowes of El Toro. Gilman won the 500 by more than a second over Alexis Binder of Santa Barbara. Still, Gilman was disappointed in her times. In the 1995 finals, she won the 200 in 1:47.70, the ninth-fastest time posted by an American high school girl.

“I don’t know for sure if I had the thyroiditis at CIF,” Gilman said. “It would explain some things. I’m still glad of what we accomplished.”