Dolphins Rule in the Pool

Pali High Boys Win Third Straight City Swim Title and Girls Claim Sixth in a Row at East LA College 

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

The winner was no longer in doubt by the time Palisades High’s boys 400 freestyle took the pool for the final event of last Friday’s City Section swim championships at East Los Angeles College.

The Dolphins’ foursome of Kian Brouwer, Zach Senator, Hunter Loncar and Roy Yoo, however, swam as if the title was at stake, adding an exclamation point to perhaps the most impressive performance in City finals history by clocking 3:09.66 to break a 31-year-old meet record.

“We weren’t aware of it but I could hear the crowd,” Yoo said after beating the record of 3:10.87 set by El Camino Real in 1984.

It was the last of four City finals marks Palisades set as the boys racked up 600 points for their third straight title and the girls accumulated 591 points to claim their sixth in a row and ninth in 10 years. With most of the team returning next season the Dolphins’ dynasty could continue.

Palisades’ girls 400 freestyle relay of Leah Timmerman, Gillian Caverly, Dora Seggelke and Mardell Ramirez swam 3:34.97, establishing a new meet record.

“We knew we were close and we all needed to drop one second to do it,” said Ramirez, a senior whose personal-best 52.4 split was the perfect swan song. “I’m happy we won [City] every year and winning my last race is icing on the cake. What I’m most proud of is that I can talk to anyone on this team – we’re all so close.”

Ramirez won the 100 freestyle in 53.17, took second in the  100 backstroke and swam the first leg of the winning 200 medley relay.

Timmerman won the 100 breaststroke in 1:08.29 and Caverly, only a freshman, won the 200 freestyle (1:54.02) and 500 freestyle (5:00.57). Nell El Souri won the 50 freestyle in 25.59.

Palisades’ boys 200 freestyle relay won in 1:28.76, just off the meet record and in one of the most exciting races of the meet Senator (4:38.50) pulled away on the final lap to beat Loncar (4:42.39) in the 500 freestyle.

Yoo, a freshman, won the 100 freestyle (47.58) and 50 freestyle (21.70). Brouwer won the boys 100 butterfly in 50.35 seconds and the 200 freestyle in 1:41.10.

The boys 200 medley relay  started the meet in style, clocking  1:37.42 to break the meet record.

“On the platform waiting I looked up and knew I had to go all-out to do it,” said Kian Lotfi, who swam the anchor leg. Kian [Brouwer] had a great leg to take some of the pressure off my shoulders and it was a huge sigh of relief when I looked at the clock.

“This is the fastest we’ve ever been,” Pali High head coach Maggie Nance said. “To be as deep as we are in every event, to set so many records as we did and to send so many people to state… we stepped up to the challenge.”

Junior Michael Cutidioc won the 100 backstroke in 51.94, breaking the City finals record of 52.44 he set last year.

“In my first race [the 200 medley relay] I didn’t feel so great, but for the 100 backstroke I focused on the details,” Cutidioc said. “On that last lap my legs were really on fire and I haven’t felt that in awhile so I knew I was going fast.”

Two days earlier, Dolphins senior Avery Botansky picked up 17 points by finishing second in the girls diving finals with a score of 355.95 and qualifying for the state meet. In the boys competition, Kenny Saab placed third with a point total of 284.50.

“We’ve all been working so hard for this and it’s a great way to end,” said Pali High senior captain Rachel Martin, who clocked her best time in the 100 backstroke. “Everyone was yelling ‘P-House!’ on that last relay. We’re all so supportive of each other and for me, the best thing is seeing my teammates cheer for me when I touch the wall.”

Palisades will compete in the first-ever CIF state swim championships Friday and Saturday in Fresno.