Lerman Beats His Longtime Rival When It Counts--for City Title

No, Birmingham High’s Bryce Lerman had not gone off the deep end.

He actually believed he could beat Eagle Rock’s Oscar Delgado, the three-time defending City Section diving champion.

Now, everyone else believes, too.

Lerman narrowly defeated his nemesis, 565.7 to 563.1, Friday at the City diving finals at Valley College.

“I’ve been working hard the whole year, my whole life, to achieve this goal,” said Lerman, a Cal State Northridge-bound senior who had finished behind Delgado in each of their 15 previous meetings.

Josh Levenbrown of Birmingham, who has committed to UC Irvine, finished third with 386.5 points.

Birmingham received 16 points for Lerman’s first-place finish and 12 points for Levenbrown’s third. Those points will be applied to the Braves’ team score Wednesday at the City swim finals at Belmont Plaza.

There was little doubt that the boys’ competition on Friday would come down to Lerman, the 1997 City runner-up and the Wyoming-bound Delgado, who was attempting to become the City’s first four-time diving champion.

Lerman, diving with a heavily bandaged broken right hand, gained confidence on his third of 11 dives. He ripped a front 2 1/2 tuck, a dive with a 2.4 degree of difficulty, and received eights and nines from the judges.

“Bryce was hungry for it,” said Delgado, who hopes to earn a spot on the Ecuadorian Olympic diving team. “I’ve got to tip my hat to him. He has improved tremendously.”

So have El Camino Real’s Christina Flynn and Melanie Henson, who dominated the girls’ competition.

Both divers shattered the previous school record of 437 points, set earlier this month by Flynn at the West Valley League championships.

Flynn, a junior who finished second last season, led from the first dive and finished with 499.7 points.

“I hope next year I can beat that record,” she said.

She will have Henson to push her.

Henson, a sophomore whose previous personal best was 394 points, scored 469.7.

Henson was competing with a broken nose, suffered four weeks ago during a meet at Birmingham.

Cleveland junior Andrea Brennglass finished with several solid dives to claim third with 350.95 points.

El Camino Real received 29 points from Flynn and Henson.

The Conquistadores, however, are hardly the favorite to win the girls’ swim competition on Wednesday.

That honor goes to juggernaut Granada Hills.

“The rest of us are battling for second,” El Camino Real swim Coach Peter Vastenhold said. “Granada Hills is a given.”