Daily Pilot Althlete of the Week: Hayley Peirsol - Aaron who?

Tony Altobelli

Respect? Yes. Support? Yes. Rivalry? No.

For Newport Harbor High freshman girls swimmer, Hayley Peirsol, her

sibling relationship with her brother, Aaron, is just like any other

typical teenager brother-sister connection. It’s just on a world-class

level.

“I think what he does is amazing,” Hayley Peirsol said of her sophomore

brother. “But there’s no competition or anything. I think if he was my

sister instead of my brother, there might be more rivalry. I’m glad it’s

like this. It works much better this way.”

It works extremely well for the Sailors having Hayley Peirsol on the

girls team. Even as a freshman, she has made a big splash not only in

this area, but throughout CIF.

Last week, Peirsol qualified for the CIF Division Finals in two

individual events and competed on two Sailors’ relay teams, helping

Newport to its first-ever runner-up finish in the team standings.

“One of her strengths is that she’s very disciplined,” Coach Ken Lamont

said. “She’s unbelievably competitive and her knowledge of the sport is

very strong.”

Peirsol was seventh in the 200-yard individual medley (2:10.54) and the

500 freestyle (4:59.65). But, it was her effort in the relays that helped

her to achieve Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week honors.

In the 200 medley relay, Peirsol, who teamed with Carly Geehr, Nicole

Mackey and Amy Murphy, swam an impressive leg, helping the Sailors take

third place with a 1:49.28.

In the 400 free relay, Newport held a slim lead after the first two legs

before Peirsol took over and swam a 55.04 100-yard leg and stretched the

Sailors’ lead.

From there, Geehr took to the water and the Sailors won the event with a

3:32.32, jumping Newport ahead of San Clemente for second place.

“I was pretty nervous out there,” Peirsol said. “It reminded me of the

Nationals meets with my club team. With all those bigger swimmers out

there, I knew it was going to be tough.”

Seeing Peirsol rise to the challenge wasn’t a big shock to Lamont, who

has seen her swim much longer than just at Newport.

“I’ve coached her with the Irvine Novaquatics for years, so I know what

she can do,” Lamont said. “Heading into CIF, even though she was just a

freshman, she was one of our big guns out there. She probably would be

the No. 1 gun on most girls’ teams anywhere else.”

So what got Peirsol into such a swimming frenzy? “My parents would take

us swimming for fun and Aaron would go to the YMCA and compete in pumpkin

meets and win pumpkins,” she said with a laugh. “I started with the

Irvine Novaquatics when I was around eight or nine years old and I really

liked it from the beginning.”

With all her club competitions, Peirsol uses the school competition to

keep the balance of fun involved.

“Competing with your friends is always fun,” Peirsol said. “The club

meets are pretty intense, so when I’m swimming for Harbor, I just focus

on having as much fun as possible.”

Seeing the longer races as her strong points, Peirsol is fine-tuning her

strokes and her speed for the shorter races. “Anything below the 500 is

tougher for me,” Peirsol admitted. “I have trouble pushing off and

getting going. Once I find my pace, I’m OK.

Lamont leans in the same direction. “If I had my way, there would be more

distance races,” he said. “But since there isn’t, I try to use her in the

IM races and perhaps some more 200 races.”

Despite the thousands of laps she accumulates in the water, Peirsol is

still a typical teenager. “I like to be lazy,” she said with a laugh. “If

I am doing stuff, I like hanging out with my friends or going to the

movies or the beach. You know, the usual stuff.”