Ailing Nielson Leads Granada Hills to Title

Not even flu could stop Michelle Nielson from helping Granada Hills High dominate the City Section girls’ swimming finals.

Bedridden Monday, Nielson didn’t match her City record times in the 100-yard butterfly and 100-backstroke, but she still won both events and swam legs on two winning relays as the Highlanders won their fourth consecutive team title Wednesday at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach.

Granada Hills finished with 320 points, 131 better than second-place El Camino Real.

The Highlanders won every event except the 50 and 100 freestyles and set two relay records.

Amanda Kim, Stephanie Shapiro, Nicolette Viray and Jennifer Parmenter finished the 200 freestyle relay in 1:43.47, breaking the mark they set last week in the semifinals by over a second.

Then Kim, Nielson, Shapiro and Parmenter won the 400 freestyle relay in 3:41.12, bettering last week’s mark by over two seconds.

Nielson won the 100 butterfly in 59.22, the 100 backstroke in 58.91 and was named girls’ swimmer of the meet.

“I’m ready to go back home and back to bed,” Nielson said.

Parmenter barely missed the City record in the 200 freestyle. Her time of 1:52.92 was .02 short of Gretchen Ballard’s time in 1994. She also won the 100 breaststroke in 1:07.10.

“And I don’t even train for it,” Parmenter said.

Shapiro, a senior who will swim at San Diego State, could have finished her career with 16 individual and relay titles but had to settle for 15 after finishing second behind Viray in the 200 freestyle. She still won the 500 freestyle in 5:18.61.

El Camino Real tried its best to win the boys’ title with six individual titles, but Venice used superior depth to win its third straight title.

The Gondoliers finished with 256 points, the Conquistadores had only 219. Josh Williams, the two-time champion in the 100 breaststroke, added his third for El Camino Real, finishing in 1:03.45.

He also won the 100 freestyle in 50.16.