Salinas Finds Home at St. Bonaventure

The wait was worth it for Leo Salinas of St. Bonaventure High.

Ineligible for the Buena boys’ swim team last year because he was a first-year exchange student from Monterrey, Mexico, Salinas became eligible after transferring to St. Bonaventure.

On Saturday, Salinas recorded victories in the 200 and 500-yard freestyles in the Southern Section Division III finals at Belmont Plaza.

In the 200 freestyle, Salinas came from behind to beat Bob Martinez of Redondo Union by .02 seconds, finishing in 1:42.64.

Salinas had a much easier time in the 500 freestyle, winning in 4:33.97, the best time by over four seconds.

Despite his success, it still wasn’t easy swimming for St. Bonaventure.

The Seraphs compete as an independent and didn’t have regularly scheduled dual meets, which meant Salinas often swam in the outside lane at Channel League meets so he could qualify for the Division III championships.

Salinas wasn’t even sure he could stay in Ventura after his original host family moved. He stayed with Buenaventura Swim Club Coach Rob Mirande for several weeks last summer before finding another family.

“I stayed here because I wanted to be noticed for college,” Salinas said.

He was. Salinas, who has a 3.83 grade-point average, got a partial scholarship from Georgia Tech and will swim for the Yellowjackets next season.

Freshman Maureen Farrell of Alemany was the other individual champion from the region. She came from behind to defeat Mission League rival Kim Feig of Louisville in the girls’ 100 backstroke. Farrell finished in 58.18, Feig 58.49.

“[The finals] is a little scary for me,” Farrell said. “I’ve been to big meets before but this feels different. I was a little nervous.”

Farrell also placed second in the 100 freestyle, timing 53.00.