Cool in the Pool

Pali High Girls Swim to Ninth Consecutive City Crown, Boys Win Sixth in a Row

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

When she was pushed into the pool at John C. Argue Swim Stadium at the conclusion of last Friday’s City Section Championships, Palisades High coach Maggie Nance could only wonder if the dynasty will ever end.   

“Every kid swam top 16 at prelims and made it to today,” she said, referring to her team’s depth. “I think this is the first time it’s ever happened!”

Sharing a celebratory swim with their coach has become a ritual for the Dolphins.

“It’s tradition, she always brings an extra pair of clothes… she knows it’s coming,” said Dora Seggelke, who willed her way to second in the 200 individual medley, third in the 100 butterfly and first on two relays despite a broken wrist. “I didn’t know until afterwards but I felt it on flip turns. I had to do this!”

The girls won for the 12th time in 13 years with 579 points—their most since racking up 591 in 2015.    

Roy Yoo won the 50 and 100 freestyles and William Cho won the 100 butterfly and 100 breaststroke as the boys amassed 561 points to capture their sixth straight crown.    

    Palisades’ girls entered Friday’s finals with 52 points and the boys started the meet with 37 thanks to the Dolphins’ diving team. Junior Alexis Kleshik repeated as girls 1-meter champion and freshman Maya Salvitti took second while sophomore Andrei Kozeluh was third among the boys last Monday at Maggie Gilbert Aquatic Center.

   “Diving is one of our 11 varsity events and those points are combined with the points for the swim events for our total score,” Nance said. “All of our athletes’ performances, whether swimming or diving, scored points that contributed to our championship.”

The Dolphins took command from the first event as the girls’ 200 medley relay of Amanda Kim (backstroke), Quincy Timmerman (breaststroke), Seggelke (butterfly) and Nathalia Wyss (freestyle) won by almost a full second in 1:51.45. The boys’ foursome of Marc Pryor, JJ Chang, Cho and Lucas Lacy followed suit, taking first place in 1:40.46.

Wyss, a freshman, took second in the 200 freestyle (1:56.18) and the 500 freestyle (5:19.06).

“It kind of hit me right after we all jumped in,” said senior Tevin Pak, who was fourth in the 500 freestyle. “I didn’t think it would be this emotional. Joining the swim team was a life changing experience. There are days you’re not in the mood to swim but you do anyway and all the hard work is definitely worth it.”

    Joining Pak at Chapman University in the fall will be his close friend Cho, who has enjoyed his one season in Dolphins blue after moving here from New Jersey.

“We have such a great team atmosphere,” Cho said. “ I thought it would be closer at the beginning of the year but everything worked out really well.”       

Yoo had a slight lead as he began the final leg of the 400 freestyle relay, but he widened the gap in the last two laps, touching the wall almost three seconds ahead.

“What I’ll remember most is swimming the relays,” said Yoo, who will continue his swimming career at the University of Pacific.  “I felt good but the water was  too warm to go for records. I’d say the 50 free is my favorite event since there’s more of a rush to it, but it’s the most stressful because if anything goes wrong it’ll cost you.”   

Seggelke, along with fellow girls captains Taylor Torgerson and Neve Rosa and boys captains Jonas Sautter and JJ Chang, kept the Dolphins’ spirits up for the entire meet and by the time the team scores were announced, everyone on the pool deck knew who was No. 1.

“I’ve been swimming for 13 years and it’s finally starting to sink in that this is it,” said

senior Elena Saab, who captained Pali High’s water polo team to the City finals in February and will attend UCLA in the fall. “The friendships I’ve made, the bond I have with my teammates is something I’ll always remember. Butterfly is the hardest stroke but this is the fourth year I’ve done it for Pali. It’s been so much fun. My sister [Clara] came home from college last week and I’m so glad she was here today to cheer me on.”