Ervin Was In a Waterworld All His Own

First, Anthony Ervin successfully completed an advanced-placement exam.

Then, he passed every test he faced at the Southern Section Division II swimming championships. With flying colors.

“Tests don’t usually affect me like they do some people,” Ervin says.

Unfazed by taking a big math test on the morning of preliminaries for the biggest high school swim meet of the season, the Hart High senior shattered Division II records in the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle races in the preliminaries.

He clocked 20.21 seconds in the 50 and 44.11 in the 100 to eclipse standards set by Brian Malich of El Dorado.

The times in each event also were the fastest in the nation this year by a high school swimmer, and drew rousing ovations from fellow competitors and spectators at the meet at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach.

“When I finished, I got out of the water and looked up, and looked at my times,” Ervin said. “The whole crowd was screaming. It was a thrill.”

Ervin, who earned the Division II boys’ swimmer-of-the-meet award, has been selected The Times’ Valley / Ventura County boys’ swimmer of year.

But as far as Ervin was concerned, the preliminaries were a prelude to the Division II finals, scheduled two days later.

“I was planning on trying to break some [Southern Section] records,” said Ervin, a 6-foot-3, 150-pound senior who is bound for the University of California.

“It was important to me to break the records,” he said. “But even after I did it, I knew I wasn’t even close to being done. I was totally pumped, especially for the team.”

In the finals, Ervin defended Southern Section titles he won in the 50 and 100 freestyles last season. His times of 20.32 in the 50 and 44.28 in the 100 again beat Malich’s records, although they were short of his nation-leading performances in the preliminaries.

Ervin anchored Hart’s 200 medley relay, swimming the freestyle leg for the team that won a Southern Section title in 1:37.06, and anchored the Indians’ 200 free relay team that finished second in 1:27.09.

He helped Hart score 223 points to take second place in the Division II team competition behind Crescenta Valley for the second consecutive season.

“He’s been a leader for us for four years,” Coach Steve Neale of Hart said. “Especially in the relays, he really picks it up a level and tries to help the team.

“You should see us. In the relays, we go, ‘Hey Anthony, we’re behind two body lengths. Can you win another race for us?’ And he does it. When we’re in a tight spot, he’s the one we go to.”

That’s fine with Ervin. Tests never bother him.

“The satisfaction you feel after you finish a good race, even if you don’t break any records, is just like, a joy,” he said. “It’s something that’s kind of special.”

Just like his performance in the pool this season.