By Myra Chen & Reese Meister
The Fountain Valley High School (FVHS) swim team was defeated by the Los Alamitos (Los Al) Griffins at the Barons’ home pool on Tuesday, April 4, with a score of 407-572.
Separately, varsity girls lost 56-114 points, and the boys tied 85-85. Despite their loss, the Barons still found joy in the celebration of their “Senior Meet,” honoring each member of their graduating class before the start of the competition.
Sophomore Leyna Nguyen, freshman Kaitlyn Nguyen, senior Yen Dang and senior captain Rylie Fox began the meet for varsity with the 4×50 yard medley relay. In the breaststroke leg, Kaitlyn Nguyen secured a substantial lead for the Barons, which the team kept all the way through the end of the race, where they touched first with a time of 1:54.85.
Directly after, the boys’ relay of senior Justin Chen, freshman Peter Vu, senior Benjamin Pham and sophomore Ranen Herman competed all the way down to the touch after being neck and neck the whole way. Herman claimed the victory for the team, coming in at 1:42.15, just .09 seconds ahead of the Griffins.
Unfortunately, in both the girls’ and boys’ 200 yard freestyle, the Barons were unable to secure top three placing, although the races were close. However, Kaitlyn Nguyen came through for the Barons in the next event, the 200 yard individual medley, claiming first place with a time of 2:06.97, exactly eight seconds ahead of second place. Pham and freshman Andrew Nguyen also finished well, in first and second place, respectively, with times of 2:05.17 and 2:08.23.
In an extremely tight race, junior Jianna Balta touched third in the 50 yard freestyle with a time of 26.40, just .02 behind the second place finisher and .02 ahead of Dang, who came in fourth. For the boys, Herman and junior Gavin Tran placed first and second, respectively, with times of 23.48 and 23.50, coming in an impressive length ahead of the competition for a sprint.
After a quick break between events, Dang swam again in the 100 yard butterfly and earned more points for FVHS after taking second place with an incredible time of 1:01.02. Meanwhile, Chen and Pham were also successful in representing their team in this event. Chen secured the win with a 54.53, while Pham out-touched a Griffin to earn second place.
While the FVHS varsity girls were unable to beat their competitors in a challenging 100 yard freestyle, Vu once again obtained a victory for the Barons with a time of 48.56.
The Griffins displayed impressive endurance during the 500 yard freestyle, preventing the varsity girls from placing in the top three for the tough event. Fortunately, FVHS senior captain Brendan Pham used his experience in distance swimming to touch at 5:10.52 and claim second place in the boys’ event.
In the second relay of the meet, the 4×50 yard freestyle, the Lady Barons, Leyna Nguyen, Balta, junior Reese Meister and Kaitlyn Nguyen, swept the floor touching first, just under two seconds in front of Los Al with a time of 1:42.53. Senior Jaden Herman, Huynh, senior Brandon Doan and Tran did well for the boys’ heat, touching second at 1:34.58.
Once again, in the girls’ 100 yard backstroke, the Barons struggled against the talented competition, coming in behind all three Los Al swimmers. The boys, though, had more success in their swims, with Andrew Nguyen taking first place with a time of 1:00.72 and junior Jeremy Nguyen following in third.
The tides turned in both the girls’ and boys’ 100 yard breaststroke, securing the first place spot with a distinctive margin. Kaitlyn Nguyen touched eight seconds before her Los Al opponents at a time of 1:05.03. In the next heat, Vu touched 1:00.73, three seconds in front of two other Los Al swimmers. Ranen Herman followed, finishing in fourth place at 1:04.22.
This success did not carry onto the final event, however. In the 4×100 yard freestyle relay, both the girls and the boys A relay teams were defeated by their Los Al counterparts. The girls’ relay, composed of Dang, Balta, Fox and Meister, finished second at 1:56.03. The results for the boys’ heat were closer, in which Chen, Benjamin Pham, Ranen Herman and Vu touched only one second behind Los Al.
By the end of the windy meet, the swimmers had lost most of their warmth and energy, but still maintained a lively team spirit.
“They kept going strong. It was very cold, but they got it together and kept up a strong mentality,” head coach Christine Locke said. “We put our best foot forward.”
Locke looks forward to FVHS’s next meet against Huntington Beach High School following Spring Break.
“We’re almost there. This is where it all comes together, the toughest part of the season, but also the most fun and competitive part,” Locke said.
