Boys swimming: CdM knockout: 101-68

Steve Virgen

CORONA DEL MAR - After its matchup with Pacific Coast League rival

University, the Corona del Mar High boys swim team will now look to the

league finals to prove a better showing.

With less than healthy swimmers, the Sea Kings (6-2, 3-1 in league)

battled their way to a 101-68 loss to the visiting Trojans (2-1, 3-0), in

a showdown of league unbeatens Wednesday.

“I was hoping the meet would have been a little closer,” CdM Coach Tim

Chaix said. “Some of our guys felt tired and didn’t end up as fast as I

thought they would. There were some good swims.”

In its biggest challenge since its loss to Newport Harbor, CdM

received some good swims from junior Sherwin Kim and sophomore James

Strack as they grabbed the Sea Kings’ two first-place victories. Kim won

the 200-yard individual medley (2:04.31) and also finished second in the

100 freestyle (50.39). Strack touched the wall first in the 500 free

(5:14.73).

Juniors Bobby Messenger, Matt Meyer and Michael March and sophomore

John Money completed a near-brilliant performance in the 200 free relay.

The Sea Kings, with Meyer’s 23.25 split, finished in 1:35.75 just off Uni’s 1:35.67.

Messenger also took second place in the 50 free (23.77), while Meyer

came in second in the 200 free (1:56.26). CdM junior Marcello Pantuliano

had a second-place finish as well with a 1:06.84 swim in the 100

breaststroke.

“We’re working through the meets and we’re training for that last

final,” said Messenger, who noted he uses the swim season to prepare for

water polo. “We do go hard every single meet, so each meet is our best

meet. We’ll be tapered down and rested and we’ll be able to take some

seconds off of each time (for the PCL finals).

The Sea Kings will host the PCL meet with the preliminaries on May 1

and the finals May 4. CdM can still win the league title if it wins the

PCL meet as the Sea Kings did last year.

The Trojans were able to avenge that loss as they now hold the upper

hand to overtake the PCL title.

Because of that scenario, the battle of the PCL unbeatens provided a

playoff-type atmosphere as both coaches eagerly awaited to begin the

contest.

“This one will decide it,” Uni Coach Jon Pendleton said before the

meet. “CdM and Uni are head and shoulders above everybody else. If we

lose, it’s probably an indication that we won’t win league.”

Said Chaix, “This could give us a lot of confidence going into league

finals. There’s been some good swims this season, not all of them have

been up to my expectations, but we’re not done yet.”