Harbor View Dolphins win in record-breaking fashion

Steve Virgen

Maybe someday the young stars of the Harbor View and Newport Hills

swim teams will follow the lead of swimmers in the past.

Harbor View has included Olympians Aaron Peirsol, a Newport Harbor

High grad who spent one summer with the squad, and Chris Oeding, the

water polo standout out of Corona del Mar High.

For now, the swimmers are simply breaking records in their

respective age groups.

Garrett Larson set a new standard in the boys 9-10 division,

breaking three meet records to help lead the Harbor View Dolphins

past rival and host Newport Hills, 698-599, Saturday.

Larson broke meet records and collected victories in the 50-yard

breaststroke (38.16), 50-yard backstroke (35.98) and 100-yard

individual medley (1:18.05).

Harbor View’s Ricky Zak also broke a meet record when he won the

25-yard breaststroke (22.78) in the boys 5-6 division.

Also for Harbor View, Christina Hewko, who reached stardom in

water polo at CdM and is now headed to Stanford, broke a meet record

in the girls 15-18 division, winning the 100-yard IM in 1:06.75.

The meet featured nearly 500 young swimmers from the two programs.

The two programs are considered rivals in a competitive sense, yet

many of the swimmers are friendly with one another since some of them

actually play on the same team or against each other in different

sports in the community.

While there was a winner, the meet, for the most part, served as a

prelude to the season finale, which is the youth swim club league

championship Saturday at Corona del Mar High.

Overall, Harbor View, coached by Ted Bandaruk, won 35 individual

events and 10 relays.

There were several winners who won two or more events in each age

group.

In the boys 15-18 age group, Harbor View’s Bryan Buhagiar won the

50-yard backstroke (28.29), 50-yard butterfly (27.63) and 100-yard IM

(1:03.06), while teammate Sean McGhie won the 50-yard freestyle

(23.24) and the 50-yard breaststroke (32.04).

In the boys 13-14 division, Newport Hills’ Patrick White won the

50-yard freestyle (24.39) and the 50-yard backstroke (28.38).

David Linden of the Newport Hills Killer Whales dominated in the

boys 11-12 age group. Linden won four events, including the 50-yard

free freestyle (27.31), the 50-yard backstroke (33.91), the 50-yard

butterfly (30.52) and 100-yard IM (1:12.53).

In the boys 9-10, Matt Berry of Harbor View won the 50-yard

freestyle (31.30) and the 25-yard butterfly (16.25).

Harbor View’s Jake Wyatt won the 25-yard freestyle (15.24) and the

25-yard butterfly (18.01) in the boys 7-8 division.

In addition to her victory in the 100 IM, Hewko also won the

50-yard backstroke in 31.19.

In the girls 13-14 age group, Newport Hills’ Katherine Kaczmar won

the 50-yard freestyle (28.41) and the 50-yard backstroke (32.78),

while teammate Mary Flynn won the 50-yard butterfly (32.22) and the

100-yard IM (1:06.19).

Heather Van Hiel of Harbor View won three events in the girls

11-12 division, collecting victories in the 50-yard freestyle

(27.92), the 50-yard backstroke (34.73) and the 50-yard breaststroke

(38.35).

In the girls 9-10 age group, Harbor View’s Margot Money also won

three events, claiming victory in the 50-yard freestyle (31.18), the

25-yard butterfly (14.91) and 100-yard IM (1:21.50).

Harbor View’s Delaney Pouch won the 50-yard freestyle (35.15) and

the 25-yard butterflyfly (18.16) in the girls 7-8 age group.

In the girls 6-and-under division, Brynn Motal of Newport Hills

won the 25-yard freestyle (18.29) and the 25-yard butterfly (21.99).