When it comes to swimming, the gap between Palisades High and the other swim teams in the Marine League is so wide that the Dolphins could take out their top performer in every event and still win easily. Palisades’ boys and girls varsity teams remained undefeated this season with dominating victories over Narbonne Monday at Temescal Canyon pool, leaving Dolphins head coach Maggie Nance to wonder if there is any team in the City Section that can provide a challenge. ‘The boys’ title is ours to lose and the girls’ title is ours to win,’ Nance said. ‘It will all come down to how well we swim in May.’ Pali’s varsity boys beat the Gauchos 133-31 and appear to have all the ammunition they need to win a fourth consecutive City championship. ‘That’s definitely our goal and I think we’ll do it,’ said junior Peter Fishler, who is undefeated this season in the 200 freestyle and has won all but one race in the 100 butterfly. ‘Cleveland and Granada Hills are good, but our relays are just ridiculous right now,’ Fishler said. ‘We had two second place and a third place in City last year and I think we can get three firsts this year. Our times are already equivalent to what we did in the finals last year, so when we taper we’ll be much faster.’ Against Narbonne, Fishler anchored the 200 medley relay team, which won in 1:52.46, and swam the third leg of the 200 freestyle relay, which won in 1:39.02. Nance refers to her ‘Fast Five’ as Fishler, Paris Hays, David Nonberg, Brian Johnson and Gavin Jones. ‘We want to keep our streak going because it gives us a mental edge,’ said Johnson, who was undefeated in league last year and has yet to lose a race this season in the 200 individual medley or 100 backstroke. ‘Physically, it doesn’t really matter once the meet starts, but mentally it does. You have more confidence when you’ve beaten someone before.’ Johnson easily won the 100 back in 59.32 and swam the first leg of both the 400 freestyle relay and 200 medley relay. Fellow junior Slava Agafonoff is dropping times with every swim in the 100 breaststroke, which he won in a personal-best 1:11.22 on Monday. ‘Our team is really close,’ he said. ‘That’s what makes being a part of it so fun.’ Nance said the boys have so much depth that there are not enough events for everyone to swim: ‘We are maxed out in every race, which I suppose isn’t such a bad problem to have. Especially when your top swimmers are really fast like ours.’ The varsity girls also beat Narbonne handily, 134-34. And although the girls’ reign as three-time City champions ended last year, the Dolphins are determined to regain what was once theirs. ‘We are more motivated than ever to win so we’ll try our best,’ said junior Alex Ehrgott, who swims the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke. ‘And of course we want to try to beat the boys. That’s the whole point.’ The girls’ 400 freestyle relay team won in 4:07.85, the 200 freestyle relay won in 1:55.50 and junior Jodie Herman shaved eight seconds off her time in the 200 freestyle, finishing the event in 2:27.32. ‘I would describe our girls as a young, promising team with a lot of depth,’ Nance said. ‘We have a cadre of ninth graders who are really fast, led by Kristen Fujii in the backstroke and sprints, Rachel Kent in the backstroke, Cayley Cline in the butterfly and Jasmine Punch in freestyle. Alex Ehrgott has worked really hard and is really fast in breaststroke. And we have a sophomore, Ashley Baele, who has practiced diving since June and will pick up points for us there and in the butterfly.’ Fujii swam the 100 freestyle in 57:11 and has won every event she has entered this year since coming to Pali from Paul Revere. ‘I swim club with Team Santa Monica but this is more fun because there’s more team spirit,’ Fujii said. ‘My teammates are so supportive and it is great to have so much encouragement.’ Rounding out the boys varsity team are juniors Eric Balsim, Sasha Chelu, diver Sean Donohue, Eric Hamer, Evan Guze, Jordan Papadapoulos, Varit Soon, Scott Tomlinson and Ted Tomlinson and freshmen Igor Bivol and Andrew Le. Seniors Diana Kohan, Jessica Simanian and Romi Mouhibian and juniors Chelsea Davidoff, Alison Piazza, Bien Shi and Michelle Goldstein pace a young but talented girls’ varsity, complimented by freshman Amanda Mohagen and Stephanie Boone. Pali’s frosh/soph boys won 88-22 and improved to 3-1 in league while the frosh/soph girls won 74-31 to remain undefeated. The Dolphins’ frosh/soph boys consist of sophomores Ivan Ufimtsev and Christian Avila and freshmen Joe Ginzburg, Levis Bakalinsky, Nathan Guze, Wes Hunt, Kevin Orbach and Carl Kaplan. The frosh/soph girls consist of sophomores Alysa Gluckman and Jennifer Sanchez and freshmen Jasmine Lyons, Lisa Kil, Kathryn Cullen, Breanna Thompson and Kathryn Smith. The Dolphins travel to archrival Venice for a league meet tomorrow at 7 p.m.
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