So, by now you already probably know about the amazing swims from a variety of Canyons swimmers at the CIF D1 Championships. But there is a lot more to the story. The first individuals to make a statement at the meet were Cole Cogswell and Matt Johnson in the 200 free. Matt finished 6th while Cole took second with a blazing 1:36.81. Not only did that set the Canyons age group record and open record, it also broke one of Anthony Ervin’s few remaining records in the open division. The swim was also a Hart High School and Foothill League Record and an automatic All American cut. Let’s not forget that this was Cole’s first attempt at the 200 this high school season. The 200IM saw Nikol Popov earn the first CIF individual championship of the night. The Super Freshman swimming for Valencia, broke 2 minutes as she cruised to a 1:59.90 win. In doing so, she destroyed the old Foothill record by more than 3 seconds. Like they say on TV, wait that’s not all. She also broke the Canyons age group and open record held by Jennifer Parmenter. The former record was a 2:01.62 and set in 1996 when Nikol was -4 years old. Nikols time was so fast it nearly broke the national age group record and the SCS record coming up just a few tenths short. She also earned All-American status Don’t feel too bad for Nikol, her luck changes for the better as this story evolves. Mik Ranslem left no doubt that she is one of the best with her 6th place finish with a 2:03.92. Solve this riddle? How can you have the 4th fastest swim and finish 10th in the 200IM? Ask Alexa Skorus-Neely who just missed making the championship finals on Thursday. Rather that feel bad for herself, she made everyone else feel bad about their races as she blazed to a 2:02.75 consolation final victory and the 4TH fastest 200IM of the meet. Her time earns her All American status. In all, three Canyons girls had 3 of the top 7 times for the day. For the boys Kevin Dai swam a 1:50.25 which earned him 6th overall and All American status. So, when the 50 free came about all eyes were on Abbey Weitzeil. 2 time defending champion, the junior from Saugus was a blaze of glory as she swam 21.98 to win. So when is a win not just a win? WHEN THAT WIN IS A NATIONAL RECORD. That’s right Abbey broke the National High School record. Since Saugus is a public school she gets the public school record, but she is faster than the private school record as well making her THE FASTEST HIGH SCHOOL SWIMMER IN USA HISTORY. A little research shows that she is now ranked 15th in the event. Not 15th in the state, or the country, but in the world. There are 3,418,059,380 women on earth; Abbey can swim faster than 3,418,059,366 of them. As incredible as this is, apparently it is the 8th most interesting swim story of the day, because that’s where it appears on the Swim Swam and Swimming World websites. There was another great swimmer in this event, Tamara Santoyo who has become dominant in several events including the 50 where she finished 4th with a 23.36. Canyons sprinters are legendary and boy’s 50 free was further proof of that. Justin Lee finished 8th in while teammate Alex Chan was 10th and Jack Kerchner was 14th. The 100 fly saw Tamara Santoyo’s 2nd competition for the night and she did not disappoint swimming a 53.75 to finish 2nd and be named to the All American list. Just a few tenths off her best, the time was good enough to break the Foothill League record. Mik Ranslem pulled off the fast double coming back from the 200IM to take 4th with a 55.47. Jessie Kim did not have his best race in preliminaries but was insane in the consolation final winnning the heat in a 49.84 which would have placed in 4th in the A final. The time earns him All American status. The girl’s 100 free was destined to be a letdown. After all, how do you top the show Abbey put on in the 50 by setting the national record? We’ll tell you how – BY SETTING ANOTHER NATIONAL RECORD. The Saugus junior earned her 6th CIF title by winning the event with a 47.91. That broke her own CIF record and Foothill record but not the Canyons record because Abbey has gone faster (47.78). Like her 50 free the swim breaks the public school national record and surpasses the private school record making it (this part written in caps because we are shouting) THE FASTEST HIGH SCHOOL SWIMMER IN USA HISTORY. By the way, her 50 split of 22.95 would have finished 3rd in the 50 free. Sadly, this record would only stand for little over an hour as it was broken later that night by…wait for it, ABBEY WEITZEIL. Abbey clocked a 47.82 as the Saugus lead off swimmer in the 4 x 100 relay. This time her 50 split of 22.79 was so fast it would have earned Abbey 2nd place to herself in the women’s 50 free. The pool was still abuzz with Abbey’s win when the guys hit the water. 43.97 seconds later it was another Canyons swimmer they were talking about – Cole Cogswell. In what has become his signature event, Cole took out the Hart High School, Foothill League, Canyons age group and the Canyons open record. All 4 records were held by – Anthony Ervin, one of the greatest swimmers in the history of the sport. He may have an Olympic Gold medal, but Ervin no longer has the 50, 100 and 200 Canyons records – Cole Cogswell does. Lost in the wake was Kevin Dai who earned 3rd place with his impressive 45.12 swim. Both Cole and Kevin earned All-American status. Canyons trained swimmers were also in the consolation finals as Justin Lee finished 16th and Alex Chan 17th. Ally Schultz missed making finals in the 500 and was determined to show the crowd that she belonged there. 4 minutes and 56 seconds later, she won the consolation final in an exciting finish and moving into the top 3 all time for Foothill distance swimmers. Matt Johnson was the lone Canyons swimmer in the 500 where he earned 6th place honors with a 4:33.13 swim. The 100 backstroke saw Sophie Fiscella finish 9th with a 57.73. Jessie Kim was ranked 5th after prelims and was once again overlooked as a threat. But 48.39 seconds after the start, Jessie was a silver medalist as well as a Valencia, Foothill and Canyons record holder. Along the way, he beat several heavy hitters and continues to make his mark as on of the nation’s best young backstrokes. Both Kim and Fiscella earned All-American status. Abbey Weitziel made her name at CIF 2 years ago by winning 2 events. After the 100 breaststroke it was Nikol Popov who made her name. Nikol won the event with a 1:01.17, which breaks a bunch of records. Lets get this list started: School record, Foothill League record, Canyons Aquatic Age Group Record, Canyons Aquatic Open Record and Southern California Swimming 13-14 age group record (BTW, that record was held by Olympic gold medalist Amanda Beard). Alexa Skorus-Neely was 10th in 1:04.56 and Courtney Chrzas was 11th with a 1:05.12. At the end of the day Canyons trained female swimmers won 4 of the 8 individual events and a men’s CIF title. 5 out of 16. It comes down to this. You can choose to swim elsewhere or you can swim at Canyons and swim fast. Swim fast and you can go to college and even the Olympics. Swim elsewhere and you’ll always wonder how fast you might have been if you were a Canyons swimmer. Our Canyons Aquatic high school swimmers are some of the best in the nation because of their training. You want to swim fast too? We have two words for you – CANYONS AQUATIC. Get in our lane or get left behind.
Posted on: Sun, 18 May 2014 08:17:40 +0000
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