THE TIMES’ ALL-COUNTY TEAMS : GIRLS’ SWIMMING : Ward Comes On Strong After Slow Start

MISSION VIEJO —  The best year of swimming Amy Ward has ever had didn’t start out that way.

In September, she moved to her third club team in five years. She then struggled to make qualifying times for the U.S. Swimming senior nationals.

But the tough times are in the past and Ward, a senior at Trabuco Hills, has surged in the past three months.

She not only swam at the nationals, she was picked to compete at the World University Games in England this summer. Ward, The Times girls’ swimmer of the year, then capped her high school career with a strong performance at the Southern Section 3-A championship meet.

She won the 200-yard freestyle (1 minute 48.85 seconds) and finished second in the 100 freestyle (51.07). Her times were the fastest among county swimmers in the three section meets.

“The last few months have been great,” Ward said. “Everything has worked out the way I wanted it to.”

Ward rejoined the Mission Viejo Nadadores in September. She swam for the team three years earlier, but had moved to Saddleback Valley Aquatics as a sophomore.

She returned with hopes of qualifying for a national team.

“I knew they were going to be picking teams for three or four international meets this year,” Ward said. “I wanted to be on one.”

That goal appeared to be a pipe dream last winter. Ward twice failed to make the qualifying times for the 200- and 400-meter freestyle events.

In December, she just missed qualifying.

“I thought that I would make it easily the next time out,” said Ward, who will swim for the University of Arizona next year.

Instead, she came out flat and didn’t even come close.

“I started to get nervous,” Ward said. “Everyone was getting ready to go to the nationals and I still hadn’t qualified.”

Finally, in the last meet before the nationals, Ward qualified.

At the nationals, she had her best times in the 200 (2:05.01) and 400 (4:22.37). However, she had made a national team.

“They had been posting notices on the diving tower of the people who made it,” Ward said. “I never saw my name. Then, a week after I got home, my coach (Terry Stoddard) called me and asked me how I felt about going to England for the summer. I started jumping up and down on the bed, screaming.”

Ward will swim a leg of the 800 freestyle relay at the World University Games. She is one of six swimmers who will compete in the event for the United States.

The top two swimmers will automatically advance to the finals. The other four will compete in the prelims, with the two fastest swimmers advancing to the finals.

Ward is one of the four who will swim in preliminaries.

“It gives me plenty of incentive,” she said.

Since the nationals, Ward’s swimming has improved.

At the Southern Section meet, she edged defending champion Natalie Norberg of San Marino in the 100-yard freestyle. Norberg swam the second fastest time in the section the previous year.

But her most impressive performance was in the 400 freestyle relay. Ward swam the anchor leg and hit the water more than three seconds behind Brea-Olinda.

Ward swam a 50.19 as the Mustangs finish second, .06 seconds out of first.

“It was great way to finish my high school career,” she said.

Times’ All-County Girls’ Swimming

FIRST-TEAM INDIVIDUALS

Athlete School Yr. Event Amy Ward El Toro Sr. 200 Free Michelle Ham Fountain Valley Sr. 200 IM Claudia Franco Mission Viejo So. 50 Freestyle Shona Baille Mission Viejo So. 100 Butterfly Amy Ward Trabuco Hills Sr. 100 Free Michelle Kagy Edison Fr. 500 Free Marci Herron Los Alamitos Sr. 100 Back Michelle Perry El Toro So. 100 Breast

Athlete Comment Amy Ward Won 3-A race with time of 1:48.85. Michelle Ham Won 4-A race with time of 2:03.95. Claudia Franco Won 4-A race with time of 23.72. Shona Baille Won 4-A race with time of 56.60. Amy Ward Second in 3-A race with time of 51.07. Michelle Kagy Won 4-A race with time of 4:56.54. Marci Herron Won 4-A race with time of 57.92. Michelle Perry Won 4-A race with time of 1:03.78.

FIRST-TEAM RELAYS School: El Toro (200 Medley) Team Members: Roney (So.), Perry (So.), Pylra (Sr.), Lowes (Jr.) Time: 1:48.95 School: El Toro (200 Free) Team Members: Walters (Fr.), Lowes (Jr.), Roney (So.), Perry (So.) Time: 1:37.95 School: Mission Viejo (400 Free) Team Members: B. Franco, (Jr.) Baille (So.), Triska (Jr.), C. Franco (So.) Time: 3:34.89 SECOND-TEAM INDIVIDUALS

Athlete School Yr. Event Michelle Kagy Edison Fr. 200 Free Christina Thomas Edison So. 200 IM A.J. Walters El Toro Fr. 50 Freestyle Michelle Perry El Toro So. 100 Free Jennifer Antimarino Mater Dei Jr. 500 Free Laura Ellison Foothill Sr. 100 Back Michelle Ham Fountain Valley Sr. 100 Breast

Athlete Comment Michelle Kagy Won 4-A race with time of 1:50.76. Christina Thomas Second in 4-A race in time of 2:06.34. A.J. Walters Third in 4-A race with time of 24.94. Michelle Perry Won 4-A race with time of 51.29. Jennifer Antimarino Third in 3-A race with time of 5:03.69. Laura Ellison Second in 4-A race with time of 59.08. Michelle Ham Second in 4-A race in time of 1:04.75.

SECOND-TEAM RELAYS

School: Marina (200 Medley) Team Members: West (Jr.), Simmons (Sr.), Iwahara (Fr.), Levitan (So.) Time: 1:50.16 School: Mission Viejo (200 Free) Team Members: B. Franco (Jr.), Rhee (Jr.), Palle (Jr.), C. Franco (So.) Time: 1:38.21 School: Foothill (400 Free) Team Members: Logan (Sr.), Kellerman (Sr.), Hirose (Sr.), Ellison (Sr.) Time: 3:35.32