By Myra Chen
Disclaimer: Myra Chen is a member of the FVHS swim team.
After a series of meets performed under rainy weather and low temperatures, the Fountain Valley High School (FVHS) Barons swim team went up against the Corona del Mar (CdM) Sea Kings on the sunny afternoon of Mar. 28, losing narrowly with a final score of 466-494. The girls lost with a score of 191-276, while the boys won 275-218.
The second league meet of the season began promptly at 3 p.m. at the FVHS pool. After an uplifting chant from the varsity team captains, seniors Brendan Pham and Rylie Fox, the battle between the Barons and the Sea Kings began.
The 4 x 50 yard medley relay started the day off with a narrow loss. The girls varsity A-Team started strong with sophomore Leyna Nguyen swimming the backstroke leg, touching second. Nguyen was followed by sophomore Kaitlyn Nguyen swimming breaststroke, creating a large gap between the Barons and the Sea Kings.
Senior Yen Dang bursted from the blocks swimming butterfly, followed by Fox swimming the freestyle leg. Despite the effort from Dang and Fox, the Lady Barons finished in second place with a time of 1:53.65.
In the neighboring lane, the B-Team, led by sophomore Kayla Nguyen, sophomore Jayme Finnerty, junior Allyson Le and junior Liberty Jones, finished with a time of 2:04.74 in third place.
Shortly after the girls varsity 200 yard medley relay, the boys began, starting off their day with a win. The A-Team, led by senior Justin Chen swimming backstroke, started off in first place, two seconds ahead of his competition.
Freshman Peter Vu swam the breaststroke leg, widening the gap yet again. Senior Benjamin Pham held his own while swimming the butterfly and was followed by sophomore Ranen Herman swimming freestyle.
The boys touched first with a time of 1:41.95. The B-Team, composed of senior Brandon Doan, junior Goten Huynh, junior Jeremy Nguyen and junior Gavin Tran, were not too far behind, touching third with a time of 1:44.75.
Following the medley relay, the 200 yard freestyle individual event began. Leyna Nguyen swam well with a time of 2:05.33, earning her third place spot. Nguyen was followed by Finnerty and Le, who finished fourth and sixth, respectively.
In the boys varsity 200 yard freestyle, Justin Chen paced with his opponents in the first 100 yards, but gained speed in the last 100 yards, touching first with a time of 1:50.88, ahead by more than a body’s length. Justin Chen was then followed by captain Brendan Pham and sophomore Anderson Luu, touching at 1:53.39 in second place and 1:59.05 in sixth place, respectively.
In the 200 yard individual medley (IM), Kaitlyn Nguyen swept the floor with a time of 2:07.79, leaving a nine second gap between her and her opponents. Touching fourth and fifth, junior Jianna Balta and Kayla Nguyen finished with a time of 2:38.71 and 2:45.04, respectively.
In the boys’ races, Benjamin Pham finished in second place in the 200 yard IM with a time of 2:03.55. Teammates freshman Andrew Nguyen and junior Brian Pham were close behind, touching third at 2:05.30 and fourth at 2:14.35.
The varsity girls fought hard in the 50 yard freestyle, coming down to the millisecond. Dang jumped up to the blocks to claim her time of 25.93, finishing in third place, only .78 seconds away from the first place finisher. Dang was followed closely by senior captain Fox and Le, finishing in fourth and sixth place, respectively. The boys varsity 50 yard freestyle produced similar results.
Ranen Herman touched third with a time of 23.28. Junior Gavin Pham and senior Pacey Diep had an amazing race as well, finishing fifth with 24.04 and sixth with 24.31.
Following the 50 yard freestyle and a short break, the 100 yard butterfly started. The girls held their own in this competitive race. Dang, after her impressive swim in the prior event, finished third yet again with a time of 1:00.81, only 0.72 seconds after the second place CdM swimmer senior Milan Bever. Behind Dang, juniors Ryli Sotakoun and Riley Bridges swam impressively as well. Justin Chen pulled through with a time of 54.46. Benjamin Pham and Jeremy Nguyen were not far behind at 55.29 and 57.60, respectively.
Reaching the halfway mark of the competition, the Barons continued to collect victories and points. The 100 yard freestyle was a close race. Junior Reese Meister finished with a time of 56.59 in third place. Juniors Balta and Sotakoun followed at 58.57 and 1:01.07.
In the boys 100 yard freestyle event, the crowd roared with anticipation as Vu and CdM junior Camren Simoncelli fought for the first place title. Vu came out victorious after being tied in the first 50 yards, but pulled through in the last 50, creating a one second gap. In fifth and sixth place, Huynh and senior Dzinh Pham had a great swim.
The seventh event of the swim meet, the 500 yard freestyle, was definitely a sight to see. Composed of 20 consecutive laps, the swimmers, Finnerty and Jones, tested their endurance and strength. Finnerty finished with a time of 5:53.45 in third place. Finnerty was followed by Jones, who finished 6:20:27 in sixth place. Boys varsity also performed well. Captain Brendan Pham finished impressively with a time of 5:06.10 in first place. Anderson Luu and Jeremy Nguyen followed in fourth and fifth place.
After five individual events, the varsity embarked onto their second relay of the session. The 4 x 50 yard freestyle relay was one filled with loud cheers and splashing waters. The girl’s A-team was composed of Meister starting, Fox, Balta and Kaitlyn Nguyen acting as anchor. Meister, Fox and Balta had consistent times, supporting Nguyen in her 24.69 time. The A-team finished commendably at 1:44.01 in second place. The B-Team was not lacking either; Kayla Nguyen, Le, Bridges and Sotakoun, touched in third place.
The boys swam exceptionally well in the 200 yard free relay, landing the first and second place spot. Huynh kicked off with a great start, leading the A-Team 200 yard freestyle relay with confidence. Seniors Jaden Herman and Dzinh Pham continued to lead, preventing their opponents from passing through. The A-Team finished strong with their anchor, Gavin Tran. The four were three seconds ahead of their B-Team at 1:33.90. Andrew Nguyen, Doan, Brian Pham and Diep finished their race with ease, trailing behind the A-Team at 1:36.03.
The 100 yard backstroke was also quite a watch. Leyna Nguyen touched second, with a time of 1:07.65, 6.48 seconds behind CdM senior Milan Bever. Leyna Nguyen was accompanied by fellow Kayla Nguyen and captain Fox, who also had impressive swims.
In the next heat of 100 yard backstroke, Andrew Nguyen dominated, leading his teammates at more than a body’s distance. Andrew Nguyen finished first with a time of 58.23, over two seconds in front of his opponents. Jaden Herman and Doan were unrelenting, staying in the competition to earn second and fourth place, respectively.
Following the 100 yard backstroke, the 100 yard breaststroke began promptly. Again, Kaitlyn Nguyen created distance between her and her neighboring swimmers, finishing with a time of 1:05.14. Meister had an impressive swim as well, showing artistry and skill in each stroke ending at 1:15.74.
Vu yet again displayed his strength in the 100 yard breaststroke as well with a time of 1:00.19, only 0.13 seconds behind CdM junior Evan Lim. Behind Vu and Lim, Ranen Herman and Huynh swam strongly, touching third with 1:03.67 and fourth with 1:04.64, respectively.
In the final stretch of the meet, the FVHS varsity swam all out in the 4 x 100 yard freestyle relay. The audience grew as the proceeding grew tense. The girls A-Team composed of Dang, Balta, Leyna Nguyen and Meister swam fast and strong. The four swimmers ended with 3:52.01 in second place, six seconds behind CdM’s A-Team. FVHS’s B-Team, starring Sotakoun, Bridges, Jones and Finnerty, performed well despite a mishap in the touch pads.
The boys performed exceptionally well in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Anticipation clouded the atmosphere as the boys fought for the first place title against CdM. Justin Chen led, providing a two second gap between FVHS and CdM. Justin Chen was followed by Benjamin Pham, Ranen Herman and lastly, Vu. The distance between FVHS and CdM grew slowly, but surely, securing first place with a time of 3:18.99, 3 seconds ahead of CdM.
For all levels, open, junior varsity and varsity, the FVHS boys team won measurably, while the opposite occurred for the girls.
“Our girls have some work to do. They had some strong swims, but I know we can do better,” head coach Christine Locke said. “Guys all around did awesome. It was a really good meet for them. There is still work to do because not all of them went as fast as they usually can go.”
Key swimmers were Kaitlyn Nguyen, Vu, Brendan Pham, Justin Chen and Andrew Nguyen. Locke applauds these swimmers and the team for their outstanding performance.
“A lot of the guys are really good today…but we could work on building confidence and staying strong mentally,” Locke said.
Locke looks forward to improvement in their next league meet at FVHS against Los Alamitos High School on Tuesday, Mar. 4.
