Locals hold their own
GLENDALE — Some of the top youth and college swimmers from around the nation came together at Mission Viejo Marguerite Swim Center for the four-day 2010 TYR Swim Meet of Champions, which concluded on Sunday evening.
The final day of competition saw three athletes with ties to Crescenta Valley High compete in championship finals, with 2009 graduate Yumi So and current freshmen Young Tae Seo and Harrison Thai performing well in their heats.
So, who will be a sophomore at USC in the fall, picked up a third-place finish in 1 minute 01.90 seconds in the A-final heat of the women’s 100-meter butterfly on Sunday to go with the fourth-place finish she turned in in 2:16.17 in the A-final of the 200 butterfly on Friday. She also won the B-final of the 100 backstroke in 1:05.09 on Sunday.
“I was really happy with my results,” said So, who also was second in the consolation final of the 200 freestyle in 2:04.89 on Saturday and third in the consolation final of the 200-individual medley in 2:22.53 earlier Sunday. “[USC] Coach Dave Salo entered us in this meet so he could see our standings are to help us prepare for U.S. Summer Nationals in a couple months.
“I feel like I’m going on the right track, we’re just a little beat up from training and everything.”
Seo, So’s Swim Pasadena club teammate, qualified for championship heats on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, taking fourth in the A-final of the men’s 200-individual medley in 2:07.93 on the final day.
The multiple 2010 Masters meet titlist also placed seventh in the A-final of the 200 butterfly in 2:05.27 on Friday and fourth in the championship final of the 200 breaststroke in 2:24.68 on Saturday.
“I’m not really happy with my times, but I made it back, that’s a good thing with a non-taper,” Seo said. “I’ve been training hard, so I kept getting tired.”
Seo, who also placed second in the B-final of the 200 backstroke on Friday in 2:11.46 and third in the B-final of the 100 butterfly in 56.71 on Sunday, was battling a cold over the past week, but said he felt better as the Meet of Champions went on.
His teammate from the Falcons’ Pacific League champion and CIF Southern Section Division II runner-up squad, Thai, who competed with CCY Dragons, finished sixth in the A-final of the 100 breaststroke in 1:09.11 on Sunday.
That showing capped a weekend in which he placed sixth in the B-final of the 200 backstroke in 2:16.00 on Friday, seventh in the consolation final of the 200 breaststroke in 2:34.22 on Saturday and fifth in the B-final of the 100 backstroke in 1:01.99 on Sunday.
Also on Sunday, 2010 Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy graduate Madeline Talt of Swim Pasadena placed 30th in 19:02.28 in the women’s open 1,500 freestyle and Glendale High sophomore Mickey Guevara out of Rose Bowl Aquatics competed in the 100 butterfly (1:00.32) and 100 backstroke (1:07.99).