Birmingham Makes Math Add Up to Swim Victory

For nearly a week, freestyler Ryan Shipley and several other seniors on the Birmingham High boys’ swimming and diving team had been meeting to plot strategy.

They were devising a plan that would enable the Patriots to defeat rival El Camino Real in a crucial West Valley League dual meet.

The plan worked to perfection in Birmingham’s 92-91 victory Monday afternoon over the Conquistadores at Birmingham that clinched at least a tie for the league title.

As expected, El Camino Real (5-1, 4-1 in league) finished first in 11 of 12 events.

But the Patriots (6-0, 5-0) won the meet by exploiting their depth, piling up enough second-, third- and fourth-place finishes to beat the Conquistadores.

“We had the speed but they overpowered us with numbers,” Coach David Johnson of El Camino Real said. “It’s pretty frustrating when you win every event except one and still lose.”

Shipley said it was a case of good strategy.

“We saw the results of El Camino’s meet last week and we knew we couldn’t beat them with our times,” he said. “So we tried to arrange our swimmers so we could get second and third in everything and it worked.”

Despite the successful strategy, the Patriots would have lost the meet if El Camino Real wasn’t disqualified for entering the pool too early on the 200-yard freestyle relay.

The Conquistadores had finished third and the two points would have been enough to win the meet.

They will have to be content with strong individual performances by brothers Brett and Brian Brown and Mario Marshall, who combined to win seven events.

El Camino Real can also draw consolation from the fact that its girls’ team remained undefeated with a lopsided 128-55 victory over the Patriots.

The Conquistadores (6-0, 5-0), who are hoping to challenge perennial power Granada Hills for the City title in May, had two wins each by Nicole Shattuck, Elizabeth Inai, Krista Simmons and Erin Lacey.