Farmer sets record
RIVERSIDE — Newport Harbor High senior Sawyer Farmer seemed to run the full gamut of emotions on Thursday at the CIF Southern Section Division 1 swimming preliminaries.
Farmer’s last statement at Riverside City College, though, was record-breaking.
He set the Newport Harbor boys’ swimming 100-yard freestyle record going leadoff on the meet-ending 400 free relay, with a blazing split of 45.87 to top Dominik Folkner’s mark of 46.03 from last year.
Farmer will be a busy young man Saturday night, as he qualified for the Division 1 championship finals (top nine) in that relay as well as the 50 and 100 freestyle to highlight Newport-Mesa athletes competing at the meet.
Two other locals also made the championship finals in both of their individual events. Newport Harbor freshman Ayla Spitz qualified third in the girls’ 100 freestyle (50.32) and fourth in the backstroke (55.56). And CdM junior Ethan Archer qualified third in the backstroke (49.64) and seventh in the butterfly (50.03).
Archer also swam leadoff on two CdM relays that also made the championship finals. The 200 medley relay quartet of Archer, Ryan Schildwachter, Jon Polos and Tanner Roletter qualified eighth in 1:36.36, while the 200 free relay team of Archer, Polos, Foster Hoose and Roletter qualified seventh in 1:26.16.
Newport Harbor’s Farmer, sophomore Jason Grew, junior Reece Hemmens and sophomore Nick Halphide qualified eighth in the 400 free relay in a season-best time of 3:08.17. That included Farmer’s record-breaking leadoff leg. He had just missed the school record earlier Thursday, when he qualified eighth in the 50 free in 46.13.
“It means more breaking it because Dominik set it,” Farmer said of Folkner, who now swims at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. “We swam together for a while, and we always competed in practice and stuff. It was good, friendly competition ... We were just trying to get the at-large cut for state. We really want to go there [next weekend]. I think we can go a little faster, for sure.”
Farmer, bound for UC San Diego, was part of the 400 free relay team that last year set the school record. On Thursday, he said he was glad to finish strong after he moved early on the 200 free relay, causing the Newport quartet to get disqualified.
“I flinched,” he said. “[It was a] bad mistake. I shouldn’t flinch; I do this all the time ... I was really mad, especially as a senior with sophomores and juniors [on the relay]. It was really frustrating.”
Farmer said he hopes to go faster in his individual events on Saturday. His new suit was set to arrive later Thursday.
Spitz, too, sees room for improvement. Her qualifying times in the 100 freestyle and backstroke were both right around her Sunset League championship times from last week. She was just a tenth of a second off her school-record time in the 100 free.
She said she was enjoying the atmosphere at her first CIF meet.
“It’s a really fun atmosphere, just hanging out with everyone,” Spitz said. “I’m really looking forward to Saturday. Today I’m right on my times I went last week, so hopefully in finals I’ll be even faster.”
Archer also had a pair of quick individual times, including his first time under 50 seconds in the backstroke this season.
“That’s what he was waiting to do all year,” CdM Coach Barry O’Dea said. “Ethan had a great day.”
CdM junior Nicole Lin also came close to making the championship finals in both her events. She did in the 50 freestyle, with a season-best 23.95. She just missed in the breaststroke, where she’ll be in the consolation finals after qualifying 10th in another personal-best time of 1:05.54. She is the only member of the CdM girls’ team who returns for Saturday.
Like the others, Lin wants to be quicker in the finals. She said her good friend Eva Merrell, who swam for CdM last year as a freshman before taking this year off to focus on the Olympic Trials, will be in attendance on Saturday.
“She always gets me so pumped up,” Lin said. “I love going to meets with her ... I’m really trying to go 23.5 for the 50 free, and hopefully 1:04 in the 100 breast. I’ve been shooting for those all year.”
Other local swimmers made the consolation finals by placing 10th-18th in their events at preliminaries. The Newport Harbor girls’ 200 freestyle relay team, which had set the school record at league finals, qualified 11th. Ayla and Zoe Spitz, Kili Skibby and Kaela Whelan touched in 1:38.89.
The 200 medley relay, featuring the same four girls, qualified 12th in a season-best 1:50.52. The school record is a 1:49.28, set in 2000.
“I think it’s attainable if they really go for it on Saturday,” Newport Coach Brian Melstrom said.
Zoe Spitz had tapered for league finals, but she still qualified for the Division 1 consolation finals in the 50 free by placing 16th in 24.51. CdM’s Roletter qualified 17th in the boys’ 50 free, in 21.70.
Schildwachter qualified 11th in the boys’ 100 breaststroke in a personal-best 57.91.
The CIF Southern Section Division 1 finals begin Saturday at 5 p.m., back at Riverside City College.
