El Camino senior swimmer Jeremy Tan on the verge of Central Coast Section title

“That was something I set for myself (as a goal) for a while,” Tan said. “So, I’m happy I could do it my senior year.”

At Friday’s Central Coast Section Swimming and Diving Championships trials, Tan bettered both those times to surge into Saturday’s finals at the George F. Haines International Swim Center. The senior earned the second seed in the 100 fly with a time of 50.28, and the first seed in the 100 back in 50.29. Tan tallied three personal records on the day, also leading off the 200 medley relay with a time of 20.68 in the 50 free.

“The goal for [Saturday] is to get first place in the 100 backstroke and to make states,” Tan said.

Shooting for first place at the CCS championships sounds like a fairytale coming from an El Camino swimmer, seeing as the Colts have never placed better than fourth in a CCS event during head coach Jeff Vitale’s tenure. Nathaniel Macapagal — who set the PAL records in the 50 and 100 free as a junior in 2019 — was on track to contend at the CCS championships as a senior, but his finale 2020 season got canceled due to the pandemic.

Tan is an unlikely swimming star, seeing as he grew up in Daly City, not exactly known as a swimming hotbed. But he and his older brother Nicholas — who holds the PAL record in the 200 individual medley — each made their way from the Daly City Dolphins Aquatics Club at Westmoor High School to the high-profile Burlingame Aquatic Club.

With four years between he and his older brother, Tan never got to swim at El Camino with Nicholas. But his brother’s PAL infamy in tabbing the 200 individual medley record of 1:52.95 in 2018 was a big motivator in making him want to join Nicholas on the leaderboard.

Tan set out on his pursuit to claim a PAL record during his freshman season but fell short. He did earn a spot in the CCS trials but did not qualify for the finals. Then his big expectations were slowed by the pandemic. Now, he’s making up for lost time.

“I’m feeling great,” Tan said. “Just happy having a season after two years of not swimming.”

Tan’s PAL record swims at the Ocean Division championships Saturday, April 30 at Oceana were both dominant showings. He bettered the 100 back record set by Burlingame’s Kawei Tan in 2012 by over a second. He topped the 100 fly record set by Carlmont’s Ivan Garin in 2013 by 0.3 seconds.

“I knew I had it,” Tan said. “As soon as I finished … I knew I could finally represent my team with having my name on the record board.”

Tan’s marks in the CCS championships do not count toward the PAL record book, as only times recorded in PAL meets qualify. But the expectation is the senior is not done with recording new personal records.

“He doesn’t have to swim relays again tomorrow so there’s a good chance,” Vitale said. “He’s got the motivation because El Camino has never had a CCS champion, so he’s trying to get one of them.”