Geehr Finds Bumps in Road to Olympics

This was supposed to be Carly Geehr’s breakout season. The Newport Harbor sophomore, who transferred from Pasadena Mayfield last summer, in part so she could train in Irvine, was being touted as one of the nation’s most promising young swimmers.

After setting Southern Section Division III records in the 200 individual medley and 500 freestyle last season, Geehr, 15, qualified for the Olympic trials in the 200 freestyle, swimming the eighth fastest time in the nation last year.

But something wasn’t right. There was a nagging soreness in Geehr’s right shoulder that came and went. At a meet in January, the soreness gave way to intense pain, and with it, Geehr watched her Olympic dreams start to fade.

The dull throbbing in her right shoulder that began last June at the National Distance Camp and escalated with a fall off a bike, had worked its way into a torn rotator cuff, and Geehr’s doctor said the words every athlete dreads to hear: “You need surgery.”

“I was really scared,” said Geehr, who also swims for the UC Irvine Aquazots. “If I had surgery, I wouldn’t be going to the Olympic trials, and that was something I couldn’t fathom at the time. It was all I’d worked for.”

However, Geehr’s physician, referred her to a specialist who offered a second opinion: Surgery was unnecessary, it wasn’t a full tear, and, with physical therapy, it should heal itself.

After weeks of intensive therapy--including struggling to swim while keeping her arms immobile at her sides--Geehr was finally ready to swim with her teammates and make her run for the Olympics.

But on her way to rehabilitation in early February, Geehr and her mother, J.T. Geehr, were hit by a car that ran a red light at 65 mph. The impact was inches away from the passenger side door, where Carly sat.

“We were just cruising along through a green light and he nailed us,” she said. “It was so scary. But I was incredibly lucky. I just hurt my elbow and my neck.”

Although she and her mother suffered only minor injuries, it was another week out of the pool for Geehr, and when she finally returned, it was back to the kicking exercises.

“It was really hard work,” Geehr said. “But I think it has really helped me. It really increased my lung capacity.”

Finally, after nearly 2 1/2 months of the grueling therapy, Geehr was again ready to return to action, and she won the 100 breaststroke and 100 backstroke in the Foothill Swim Games earlier this month, in her first meet back.

“I did pretty well for where I was at that point,” Geehr said. “I was pleased. It was just a big hurdle getting my head back into the game.”

She may not be back at Olympic level yet, but, with the pain in her shoulder gone, Geehr said she is definitely on her way, and determined to get there.

Last week in a meet against Aliso Niguel, she set a school record in the 500 freestyle (4:55.12) and anchored her team’s 200 freestyle relay team to another school record in 1:42.57. On Thursday, she left to attend the Olympic Preparation Camp in Colorado Springs, an invitation earned by being one of the nation’s best freestylers last year.

She currently holds the second fastest time in the county in the 200 freestyle (1:51.21) and 500 freestyle (4:55.12), fourth in the 100 breaststroke (1:05.53), fifth in the 100 backstroke (59.54), and sixth in the 100 freestyle (54.02).

Geehr is modest about her victories, even though she has already qualified for the Southern Section finals in the 100, 200 and 500 freestyle, 100 backstroke and 100 breaststroke.

“I just want to enjoy my sport,” Geehr said. “If you stop having fun, you shouldn’t do it. I’m still aiming for the Olympics and if I work really hard, I know I can get there.”

*

FINALS WEEK

This week Geehr and her teammates will host the Sea View League finals. The No. 3 Sailors are hoping to knock off the county’s two top teams, No. 1 Irvine and No. 2 Laguna Hills, in the preliminaries on Wednesday. The boys’ preliminaries are today, featuring the No. 4 Sailors and top-ranked Irvine. The finals will be on Friday.

If you have an item or idea for the prep swimming report, you can fax us at (714) 966-5663 or e-mail us at chris.foster@latimes.com

COUNTY’S TOP SWIMMING MARKS

Boys

200 MEDLEY RELAY--Mission Viejo, 1:39.77; Irvine, 1:40.51; Santa Margarita, 1:42.13; Villa Park, 1:43.06; El Toro, 1:44.03; Newport Harbor, 1:44.11; El Toro, 1:44.12; Villa Park, 1:44.16; Corona Del Mar, 1:46.16.

200 FREESTYLE--Sethothom (Mission Viejo), 1:43.12; Russell (Santa Margarita), 1:45.29; Davison (Mission Viejo), 1:45.37; Herlihy (Santa Margarita), 1:46.57; Pinyero (Orange), 1:46.93; Lean (Newport Harbor), 1:47.15; Meyer (Canyon), 1:47.2; Dotts (Fountain Valley), 1:47.47; Kim (Irvine), 1:48.29; Pattanasinth (Irvine), 1:48.74; Pinyero (Orange), 1:49.0; Liao (Villa Park), 1:49.25; Bajorek (Tustin), 1:49.95; Baer (Dana Hills), 1:50.05.

200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY--Peirsol (Newport Harbor), 1:53.71; Pattanasinth (Irvine), 1:56.12; Veloz (Mission Viejo), 1:56.34; Radie (Santa Maragarita), 1:56.93; Puchalski (El Toro), 1:56.98; Piccio (Mission Viejo), 1:57.07; Meyer (Canyon), 1:57.54; Taylor (Troy), 1:57.56; Meyer (Canyon), 1:58.1; Piccio (Mission Viejo), 1:58.8; Hanna (Los Alamitos), 2:00.07; Hwang (Irvine), 2:00.47; Dotts (Fountain Valley), 2:00.84; Voith (Santa Margarita), 2:01.2.

50 FREESTYLE--Cavic (Tustin), 21.81; Van Eck (El Dorado), 22.05; Lieshman (Dana Hills), 22.15; Belden (Newport Harbor), 22.25; Russell (Santa Margarita), 22.37; Emhoff (Edison), 22.51; Ciolli (Santa Margarita), 22.54; Turi (Irvine), 22.55; Ciolli (Santa Margarita), 22.61; Kwok (Laguna Hills), 22.62; Cashuk (Villa Park), 22.80; Bowlus (Corona Del Mar), 22.81; Beamer (Irvine), 22.88; Khalessi (El Toro), 22.94; Straw (Valencia), 23.14.

100 BUTTERFLY--Veloz (Mission Viejo), 50.84; Peirsol (Newport Harbor), 50.97; Cavic (Tustin), 52.50; Pattanasinth (Irvine), 52.82; Hansen (Sunny Hills), 53.01; Peirsol (Newport Harbor), 53.08; Koontz (Villa Park), 53.61; Russell (Santa Margarita), 53.70; Dotts (Fountain Valley), 54.12; Radie (Santa Margarita), 54.27; Koontz (Villa Park), 54.27; Russell (Santa Margarita), 54.99; Gladys (Esperanza), 55.13; Schafer (Irvine), 55.48; McNeill (Valencia), 55.67.

100 FREESTYLE--Shirmura (Irvine), 47.67; Russell (Santa Margarita), 48.19; Meyer (Canyon), 49.1; Benjamin (Foothill), 49.44; Kwok (Laguna Hills), 49.66; Ciolli (Santa Margarita), 49.88; Van Eck (El Dorado), 49.94; Leishman (Dana Hills), 50.13; Belden (Newport Harbor), 50.45; Graaff (Corona Del Mar), 50.51; Yarbrough (Fountain Valley), 50.81; Radie (Santa Margarita), 51.11; Muse (Mission Viejo), 51.19; Khalesi (El Toro), 51.30; Chukiat (University), 51.38; Cashuk (Villa Park), 51.43; Matijevich (Villa Park), 51.44; Andrews (La Habra), 51.66.

500 FREESTYLE--Davison (Mission Viejo), 4:39; Piccio (Mission Viejo), 4:39.31; Meyer (Canyon), 4:40.81; Lean (Newport Harbor), 4:41.83; Herlihy (Santa Margarita), 4:42.01; Davison (Mission Viejo), 4:43.52; Eastman (Calvary Chapel), 4:45.86; Hussein (Sunny Hills), 4:46.17; Pinyero (Orange), 4:47.65; Kennedy (Mission Viejo), 4:47.67; Voith (Santa Margarita), 4:48.71; Dotts (Fountain Valley), 4:51.31; Sickels (Capistrano Valley), 4:54.48; Kim (Irvine), 4:54.62.

200 FREESTYLE RELAY--Newport Harbor, 1:29.14; Irvine, 1:29.17; Canyon, 1:30.1; Dana Hills, 1:30.76; Santa Margarita, 1:31.54; Santa Margarita, 1:31.68; Corona Del Mar, 1:31.83; Newport Harbor, 1:31.91; Villa Park, 1:32.56; El Toro, 1:32.63; University, 1:32.68; Villa Park, 1:32.76; Fountain Valley, 1:32.77; Irvine, 1:33.05; Irvine, 1:33.95; Mission Viejo, 1:34.26.

100 BACKSTROKE--Peirsol (Newport Harbor), 50.91; Shirmura (Irvine), 51.72; Hussein (Sunny Hills), 52.5; Sethothom (Mission Viejo), 52.10; Russell (Santa Margarita), 53.80; Dotts (Fountain Valley), 54.20; Hwang (Irvine), 54.77; Sethothom (Mission Viejo), 55.96; McKenna (El Toro), 56.22; Burbach (Capistrano Valley), 57.0; Voith (Santa Margarita), 57.37.

100 BREASTSTROKE--Puchalski (El Toro), 1:00.13; Pattanasinth (Irvine), 1:00.79; Baer (Dana Hills), 1:01.93; Yu (Irvine),1:02.06; Chon (Sunny Hills), 1:02.8; Piccio (Mission Viejo), 1:02.10; Piccio (Mission Viejo), 1:02.29; Radie (Santa Margarita), 1:03.80; Chan (El Toro), 1:03.83; Jones (Villa Park), 1:04.20; Smith (Dana Hills), 1:04.22; Monroe (Edison), 1:04.84.

400 FREESTYLE RELAY--Newport Harbor, 3:16.21; Santa Margarita, 3:16.38; Irvine, 3:18.89; Mission Viejo, 3:19;47; Sunny Hills, 3:21.6; Newport Harbor, 3:22.31; Los Alamitos, 3:22.57; El Toro, 3:23.87; El Toro, 3:24.74; Capistrano Valley, 3:25.48.

Girls

200 MEDLEY RELAY--Mission Viejo, 1:49.34; Esperanza, 1:49.60; Newport Harbor, 1:50.80; Irvine, 1:51.01; Canyon, 1:51.33; Irvine, 1:52.03; Esperanza, 1:52.81; Capistrano Valley, 1:54.34; Laguna Hills, 1:54.64; El Toro, 1:54.76; San Clemente, 1;54.97.

200 FREESTYLE--E. Volcan, (Canyon), 1:50.60; Mackey (Newport Harbor), 1:51.9; Geehr (Newport Harbor), 1:52.65; Peirsol (Newport Harbor), 1:54.56; Caverly (San Clemente), 1:55.50; Card (Foothill), 1:56.25; Nieto (Esperanza), 1:56.92; Murphy (Newport Harbor), 1:58.00; Chambers (San Clemente), 1:58.14; Peirsol, (Newport Harbor), 1:59.96; Packard (Santa Margarita), 1:59.60; Soares (Irvine), 2:00.08; Mitchell (Mission Viejo), 2:00.40, Deters (Laguna Hills), 2:00.43; Figge (Santa Margarita), 2:00.52; L. Volcan (Canyon), 2:00.5; Smith (Troy), 2:00.5; Hartman (Mission Viejo), 2:00.89.

200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY--Mackey (Newport Harbor), 2:03.61; Sandeno (El Toro), 2:05.27; Caverly (San Clemente), 2:05.57; Hsiao (Irvine), 2:05.64; E. Sieper (Edison), 2:09.49; Buck (Laguna Hills), 2:10.29; H. Peirsol (Newport Harbor), 2:11.59; Kikuchi (University), 2:11.63; Packard (Santa Margarita), 2:12.56; Hartman (Mission Viejo), 2:14.33; Guidi (Esperanza), 2:14.92; Cook (Valencia), 2:15.75; Card (Foothill), 2:15.82.

50 FREESTYLE--Vayo (Troy), 24.08; Jones (San Clemente), 24.50; Hsiao (Irvine), 24.53; Figge (Santa Margarita), 24.40; Henson (Foothill), 24.71; L. Volcan (Canyon), 25.3; Christiansen (Irvine), 25.27; Henson (Foothill), 25.30; Card (Foothill), 25.45; Brown (Orange), 25.73; Natalizio (Irvine), 25.85; Cook (Valencia), 25.97; Konechy (Villa Park), 26.3; A. Murphy (Newport harbor), 26.31; Soares (Irvine), 26.32; Coberly (Foothill), 26.36; Best (Villa Park), 26.50; Cho (Laguna Hills), 26.76; Hoagland (Cypress), 26.8; Gigante (El Dorado), 27.00; Cessna (Villa Park), 27.2; Buehler (Canyon), 27.8.

100 BUTTERFLY--Sandeno (El Toro), 54.84; Buck (Laguna Hills), 56.03; Mackey (Newport Harbor), 57.21; Cho (Laguna Hills), 57.96; Deters (Laguna Hills), 1:00.29.

100 FREESTYLE--Hsiao (Irvine), 52.13; E. Volcan (Canyon), 52.2; Henson (Foothill), 53.64; Jones (San Clemente), 53.98; L. Volcan (Canyon), 54.09; Caverly (San Clemente), 54.12; Nieto (Esperanza), 54.25; Figge (Santa Margarita) 54.28; Mackey (Newport Harbor), 54.49; Umezawa (Irvine), 55.98; Christiansen (Irvine), 56.07; Gigante (El Dorado), 57.06.

500 FREESTYLE--Sandeno (El Toro), 4:43.04; Mackey (Newport Harbor), 5:03.30; E. Volcan (Canyon), 5:03.9; H. Peirsol (Newport Harbor), 5:04.56; Caverly (Capistrano Valley), 5:05.18; Barnard (Laguna Hills), 5:06.68; Imagane (Troy), 5;10.29; Hosner (Santa Margarita), 5:12.35; Vass (Mission Viejo), 5;12.43.

200 FREESTYLE RELAY--Santa Margarita, 1:40.43; Foothill, 1:40.62; Villa Park, 1:42.9; Esperanza, 1:42.21; Irvine, 1:42.23; San Clemente, 1:43.47; Canyon, 1:43.54; Irvine, 1:44.63.

100 BACKSTROKE--E. Volcan (Canyon), 56.71; Mackey (Newport Harbor), 57.91; Kikuchi (University),59.17; Mathewson (Canyon), 59.53; Geehr (Newport Harbor), 59.54; Vayo (Troy), 59.58; Caverly (San Clemente), 59.72; Packard (Santa Margarita), 59.92; Bamard (Laguna Hills), 1:00.04; Gore (Irvine), 1:00.27; 1:00.27; Vayo (Troy), 1:00.22; Card (Foothill), 1:00.95; Jones (San Clemente), 1:01.36.

100 BREASTSTROKE--E. Sieper (Esperanza), 1:04.90; Caverly (San Clemente), 1:05.18; Geehr (Newport Harbor), 1:05.53; Ramsey (Mission Viejo), 1:07.09; Arrow (Newport Harbor), 1:07.55; Cook (Valencia), 1:07.64; Bowdle (Capistrano Valley), 1:07.68; Figge (Santa Margarita), 1:08.23; Arrow (Newport Harbor), 1:08.26; Hamilton (Irvine), 1:08.79; Class (Laguna Hills), 1:09.10; Cobb (Newport Harbor), 1:10.35.

400 FREESTYLE RELAY--Newport Harbor, 3:35.60; Canyon, 3:38.04; Irvine, 3:38.53; Esperanza, 3:39.65; Foothill, 3:39.71; Foothill, 3:41.39; Canyon, 3:42.88; Mission Viejo, 3:43.02; Laguna Hills, 3:44.65.