Swimming Season Preview: La Cañada boys focus on retaining CIF title, girls hope to send group to CIF
It was an incredible season for the La Cañada High boys’ swim team in 2019, and the Spartans hope to keep things rolling after they captured the CIF Southern Section Division II champion and earned All-American marks in eight of 11 events.
Despite having big roles to fill, the La Cañada boys’ swim team and coach David Hill will be ready to compete and defend their division title behind one of the program’s most prolific athletes: CIF and Rio Hondo League champion Danny Syrkin.
For the Spartans girls’ team, which won its second consecutive league championship after sharing it with San Marino, league competition will help the team pace itself for CIF competition.
Flintridge Prep’s teams will look to keep up their success after winning Prep League titles last season.
St. Francis and Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy have restocked their rosters with the goal of vying for league crowns.
Here is a closer look at the teams:
LA CAÑADA
“We had an amazing year last year, so we’re coming off of a really high note,” Hill said. “Hopefully we can take some of that momentum and hopefully that can carry us to another championship this year.
“We did lose a lot of really, really strong swimmers who were seniors last year, so there’s definitely some big holes we’ll need to fill in, but we’ve got a good influx of younger swimmers as well and a lot of [returning swimmers] who have been really stepping it up since the start of the school year.”
For the girls’ team, coach Ernie Lee and a cast of experienced swimmers, led by junior Alexandra Syrkin, will seek to secure as many spots for CIF competition, as well as fend off league competition.
“Every meet matters,” Lee said. “Every swim matters. I think our coaching staff now with Ana Syrkin, John O’Grady, David Hill and myself, our goal is to get these kids to be the best they can be every day.
“This is not a sport where you can procrastinate. You have to put the work in. For the most part, our core kids are year-round swimmers, but we have a bunch of seasonal kids and we rely really heavily on the club kids to be competitive. That’s where our real speed is.”
The Spartan boys’ team will be led by three senior captains in Patrick Kalb, Joshua Kim and Syrkin, a USC commit and reigning Boys’ Athlete of the Year, who will juggle the high school season with Olympic Trials throughout the spring.
“We always have high expectations from Danny,” Hill said. “He’s consistently impressed us every year since he’s started swimming here. This year, one of his main focuses is gearing up for Olympic Trials during the summer. We’re going to do everything we can to help him along the way.
“He’ll be part of the team competing with us as well, but he’s really gearing up for trials this year. He’ll still be competing and we’ll still expect championship titles from him from whatever he swims.”
Syrkin collected four All-American marks and recorded a first-place and national-best time of 46.63 seconds in the 100-yard butterfly in the CIF State and Diving Championship last season.
The senior is also a defending CIF champion in the 50-yard freestyle and a two-time champion in the 100 butterfly. He also claimed league titles in the 200 freestyle and broke a seven-year-old league record with a 49.31 finish to win the 100 backstroke.
Kim, a senior, will also contribute heavily for the Spartans in individual and relay events.
“The thing about Josh is I could put him in any race and be confident that he’ll do exceptionally well,” Hill said. “He’s like a plug in. If we really need some points for our lead, Josh will be able to fill in.”
In distance events, Hill can turn to junior Stephan Badescu in the 200- and 500 freestyles.
La Cañada will also have a trio of sophomores, Braden Beagle, Ryan Silva and Ian Jefferies, who will look to make a bigger impact after solid times in league and CIF finals.
Spartans freshman Igor Benderskii, who’s part of the national group at the Rose Bowl Aquatics, is also a key addition to the underclassman group.
“We have San Marino, South Pasadena and Temple City,” Lee said. “We have some teams out there that are going to be good for us in Rio Hondo League. San Marino has always been our biggest competition.”
Alexandra Syrkin, who won league titles in the 200 freestyle, the 100 butterfly and the 400 freestyle relay, will join fellow juniors Angeli Paull, Dariya Paull and Isabella Caramaschi, all previous CIF qualifiers.
A key senior on the team will be Hailey Hemphill, who also qualified for CIF last season in sprint and freestyle events.
Three sophomores, relay swimmer Eden Radelscu, distance expert Mae O’Grady and backstroke specialist Alexa Veinegko, will also help fill the gap.
Lee expects the freshmen duo of Camille Marchen and Mia Kronson to make considerable strides.
“On the girls side, we’re trying to, step one, qualify, but you’re never going to win CIF just by qualify,” Lee said. “On the bright side, we have a girls team, as far as being competitive at the CIF level based on past seasons, with Alex Syrkin and Mae O’Grady.
“I think she’ll have a really outstanding season, and I can’t wait to see what Mia Kronson does this year.”
FLINTRIDGE PREP
The Rebels will look to defend their Prep League championships, though both teams might look somewhat different following the graduation of several key athletes and some new swimmers joining the programs.
The boys’ team took eighth in the CIF Southern Section Division III finals, but have since graduated most of that lineup.
“We’re pretty much rebuilding,” Flintridge Prep coach Ingrid Herskind said. “Our numbers will be a little low, but we have a group that’s eager to learn.”
Leading the way will be sophomore Will Fosselman (freestyle), sophomore Colin Ng (butterfly/individual medley) and freshmen Henry Brookbanks and Noah Corral (freestyle).
The girls’ side will consist of senior Paige Nixon (freestyle), junior Emeline Tolleson (freestyle), sophomore Deryn Walklett (individual medley/breaststroke) and junior Lucy Friedman (freestyle).
“I think we have a decent chance at winning league,” Herskind said. “I don’t know much about the other teams in league, but we’ll just look to keep improving our times.”
The girls took 11th at CIF last season.
ST. FRANCIS
Things appear to be promising for the Golden Knights.
St. Francis has gathered an impressive collection of talent with the goal of contending for the Mission League title and advancing to the CIF postseason for a second season in a row. The Golden Knights took 31st last season at the CIF Southern Section Division I finals.
“We’ll be trying for a top-25 finish at CIF,” St. Francis coach Brady Lowdermilk said. “I think we have a motivated group to do that and challenge in league, plus we have a lot of guys working with their club teams in the offseason.
“Harvard-Westlake and Loyola are ahead of everybody in league and Crespi has some super swimmers. We’ll probably be battling with [Sherman Oaks] Notre Dame.”
St. Francis will count on senior Chris Bruce (freestyle/butterfly), senior Ethan Gray (individual medley/butterfly), senior Michael Smith (breaststroke), junior Adam Schroeder (breaststroke/sprints/freestyle) and junior Peter Rassam (butterfly/freestyle).
FLINTRIDGE SACRED HEART ACADEMY
Coach Carlos Ponce starts his second season with the Tologs, who are in the Mission League.
Flintridge Sacred Heart took fourth in league last season and will look to make a move north in the standings with a collection of younger talent.
“I’ve learned a lot about our swimmers and they know me better, so that will help a lot,” Ponce said. “We want to keep the program heading in the right direction and we have a good group that we think can make a difference.”
The Tologs will rely on senior Emily Giesler (breaststroke/individual medley/relays), junior Sophia Cotman (freestyle/butterfly), sophomore Gabby Anich (freestyle) and sophomore Julia Kinsel (butterfly/relays).