Girls swimming: Sailors take fourth

Tony Altobelli

BELMONT SHORE - Newport Harbor High girls swim standout Carly

Geehr’s fingers were probably a little more wrinkly than the rest in the

first hour of the CIF Southern Section Division I finals Friday night at

Belmont Plaza.

Geehr, a junior, had 450 yards of finals competition under her belt

before some people had finished putting quarters in the parking meters.

After swimming the butterfly in the Sailors’ 200-yard medley relay,

Geehr was back in the pool 10 minutes later for the 200 free finals,

where she and Canyon High’s Erin Volcan put on a memorable performance.

Volcan and Geehr were neck and neck from the opening buzzer. Geehr led

for the first 175 yards before being edged by Volcan by one-hundredth of

a second, placing second with a time of 1:49.42, bettering her school

record from a year ago.

“I went as hard as I could, but she snuck ahead of me in the last 25

yards,” Geehr said.

Less than 10 minutes later, Geehr competed in the 200 IM, where she

finished third with a 2:02.71, breaking Nicole Mackey’s school record set

last year.

“I swam some pretty good times, but it was definitely a lot harder

than I thought it would be,” Geehr said. “It’s amazing how much more a

1:49 takes out of you (in the 200 free) compared to a 1:51 (her time in

the preliminaries on Wednesday). I definitely won’t try that again next

year.”

Newport Coach Ken Lamont was proud of Geehr’s accomplishments. “It’s

unfortunate for Carly to have those events so close together,” Lamont

said. “I think Carly gained a lot of respect from the swimming community

for her effort out there. It shows how much diversity she really has.”

The Sailors finished fourth overall with 165 points. Irvine

cannonballed the rest of the division with 294 points.

“All the kids did what they needed to do to be successful,” Lamont

said. “You can’t ask for more than that.”

Mackey, a sophomore, also set two new Sailor records. She finished

second in the 100 backstroke with a 55.21, breaking Maureen McLaren’s

1992 record. She also broke her own record from a year ago in the 100 fly

(55.90) and placed third.

“Nicole matched her time she had when she won the Sea View League

title last week in the 100 fly,” Lamont said.

In the 500 free finals, sophomore Hayley Peirsol swam a 4:55.02, which

was good enough for third place. She also won the 200 free consolations

with a 1:53.73.

Senior Jennifer Arrow ended her career at Newport with a 1:06.94 to

win the consolation race of the 200 breaststroke.

Mai Tajima placed eighth in the 100 back with a 1:00.86.

Joining Geehr in the Sailors’ third-place 200 medley relay (1:49.49)

were Mackey, Arrow and Peirsol.

Geehr, Peirsol, Tajima and Mackey capped off their evening with a

solid second-place showing in the 400 free relay with a 3:33.94.

Upon looking at the rest of the Sailors’ individual school records,

Melissa Schutz’s 24.12 in the 50 free is the only record set before 2000

(1995).

“And I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see that one get beaten next

year, too,” Lamont said. “With all the talent we’ve got coming back,

we’re going to be right in the thick of things again next year. It’s

going to be exciting.”