Nadadores Dominate Newport Ocean Swim

When Mission Viejo Nadadores Coach Bill Rose gave his team the choice of its regular three-hour early morning workout or a two-mile ocean swim, most grabbed their goggles and headed to the Newport Beach Open Water Swim.

It was a good choice for the Nadadores swimmers, who took four of the top five spots. Chad Carvin led the way, winning the race from the Balboa Pier to the Newport Pier in 34 minutes 29 seconds.

“When coach gave us the option, I picked here,” said Carvin, who is in training for the Olympic trials in August. “This was later and shorter.”

However, Carvin wasn’t entirely pleased. Without any guide boat or markers along the way, he and several of his teammates in the lead group found themselves too close to shore as they neared the finish line, forcing them to swim back offshore to the final buoy.

“Two miles is a heck of a long way to swim without a marker to guide you,” Carvin said. “I tried to keep looking at the white restaurant on the end of the pier, but it was tough. The closer you get to the shore, the more the waves start beating you up.”

Despite having to reroute himself, Carvin was able to hold off teammate James Davison as they went around the final buoy.

When Carvin got close to shore, he stood up and looked back at his pursuers.

“I was looking to see if I was going to have to sprint to the finish or not,” he said. “I was happy to see I didn’t have to.”

Carvin beat Davison (34:37) by eight seconds. Scott Davison and Carlo Piccio tied for third in 35:01. Chris Meyer of SoCal Aquatics was fourth in 35:36.

Vicky West of the Redlands Swim Team was the fifth swimmer to finish and the first woman, in 36:14.

In shorter-distance open-water swims earlier in the morning, the Nadadores swept the titles.

Amanda Nauman won the 200 yards in 2:30, Nick Divan won the 400 in 4:23 and Paul Divan won the 800 in 9:58.