Syrkin’s record-breaking day helps La Cañada boys’ swimming capture CIF title
The record-breaking run continues for La Cañada High boys’ swimmer Danny Syrkin.
The junior came into the CIF Southern Section Division II swimming and diving finals at the Riverside Aquatic Complex on Saturday with a pair of Rio Hondo League championships to his name.
On Saturday, he added two section titles.
Syrkin broke his own record in the 100-yard butterfly in 47.25 seconds to retain his title and added a crown in the 50 freestyle with a 20.38 finish to help the La Cañada boys’ team capture the Division II championship.
The Spartans recorded 336 points to top runner-up Damien (235) and third-place Mira Costa (220). La Cañada finished third last season.
The Division II finals also included area swimmers from St. Francis High and Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy.
“Impressive is the right word,” said La Cañada coach David Hill about Syrkin. “Especially because I don’t think he’s reached his taper fully yet. I think his focus point is actually going to be this weekend at state.
“Even though he had really spectacular races obviously breaking his own record in the 100 butterfly and clinching the win in the 50 freestyle, considering he can swim those times when he’s probably still got some juice in the tank, it’s pretty exciting.”
Syrkin teamed up with Eddie Cosic, Thomas Hoffman and Chris O’Grady to break their own record in the boys’ 200 medley with a 1:31.68 finish to retain the title. The group also finished second in the 400 freestyle relay (3:05.26) behind Damien (3:04.54).
“We knew we had a pretty good shot, especially with all the success we had in the Rio Hondo League and in the invitational we had all year,” Hill said. “It was pretty cool, especially since last year we finished top three. We had, I think, only three points away from becoming runner-up. I think most of those guys took that as fuel to really propel the season this year and try to come back from that.
“Obviously, it worked. We had a really stellar meet all around. I think every single one of our boys who swam in prelims made it back to finals. That was definitely very stellar.”
Spartans junior Joshua Kim finished sixth in the 200 individual medley in 1:55.08 and senior Thomas Hoffman finished fourth in the boys’ 100 butterfly in 50.13.
The La Cañada girls’ team finished 10th, scoring 91.5 points. The Spartans received a sixth-place finish from Alexandra Syrkin in the 100 butterfly (57.31).
The Spartans girls’ 200 medley relay team of Syrkin, Maddie Odell, Isabella Caramaschi, and Shannon Ring finished 10th in 1:50.89.
La Cañada diving also received a second-place finish from sophomore Grace Lee, who scored 530.90 in the girls’ final. For the boys’, junior Tatsuya Machida scored 532.95 to finish third ahead of teammate sophomore Ray Wipfli (fourth, 502.15).
Lee will join Crescenta Valley’s Katelynn Shaheen in state competition.
For St. Francis in the Division I final, junior Michael Smith finished 16th in the 500 freestyle consolation final in 4:40.18, a school record.
Smith teamed up with John Balog, Christopher Burce and Ethan Gray in the 200 freestyle relay to finish 14th in the consolation final in 1:28.09.
“We’re moving in the right direction and getting better in all the right ways,” St. Francis coach Brady Lowdermilk said. “It was awesome. Michael Smith broke three school records and was two-tenths of a second from breaking a fourth school record.
“He’s just a stud. He’s got the right attitude for everything and I love that he’s just a gamer. He shows up at the big meets and swims with the big boys and he always does well. It’s amazing.”
Flintridge Sacred Heart junior Emily Giesler finished 17th in the Division I consolation final of the 100 breaststroke in 1:05.74.
The fifth annual CIF State Swimming & Diving Championships will be held May 10-11 at Clovis Olympic Swim Complex at Clovis West High.
Twitter: @ReporterVince