Records fall like dominoes at PAL Bay Division swim championships

“I think the level with swimming in the area has definitely gone up,” M-A head coach Bruce Smith said, “and I think the PAL … is getting stronger. … We’ve really not been there the last 10 years.”

Smith raved about M-A sophomore Hailey Preuss as she carved out the record in the girls’ 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1 minute, 3.47 seconds. The record was previously held by Larisa Tam, who set the mark for San Mateo with a time of 1:03.85 in 2017.

“She’s been great,” Smith said. “She got CCS (cuts) in every single event … but (she’s been important) almost more as a leader than just as a fast swimmer.”

Anagnoson put his name in the PAL record books three times.

First, he set a new mark in the boys’ 200 individual medley in 1:50.68, bettering the former record by over two seconds, set by Nicolas Tan in 2018 in 1:52.95. In the boys’ 200 free relay, Anagnoson, Ryan Vattuone, Olin Gawel and Seth Smith broke the record in 1:26.40, topping the former mark of 1:29.12 set by Burlingame in 2014. Then, in the boys’ 200 medley relay, Anagnoson, Smith, Vattuone and Sherman Lee shattered the record in a time of 1:34.11, besting the previous mark of 1:38.21 set by Burlingame in 2013.

In addition to Anagnoson’s fast starts, consistent mechanics and explosive turns, there was one more quality that factored into his big day, Aragon head coach Bill Barthold said, specifically speaking about the 200 IM.

“And determination,” Barthold said. “Because when you have a target, when you have a goal — that was the goal. He knew exactly how fast he had to go.”

Anagnoson said he swam the 200 IM faster, by over a half second, in fact, over the club swimming season in the winter.

“It honestly felt pretty regular,” Anagnoson said. “The first half, my fly and my back felt a little slower than I’ve been in the past. But the breast felt pretty nice, and from there I kind of launched into a great freestyle leg.”

Collet broke two records, in events fairly close to one another at that. The junior started by conquering the “marathon” event of the boys’ 500 in 4:25.34, obliterating the previous mark of 4:37.85 set over 40 years previous by Dave Stewart of Menlo School in 1983. Next on the hit list for Collet was boys’ 100 back, swimming it in 49.36 to break his own record from last season of 49.92.

Another Woodside swimmer, junior Edana Huang broke the record in the girls’ 200 fly with a first-place time of 55.11 seconds, eclipsing the old mark of 55.22 set by Naomi Thomas in 2011.

Huang was one of three Woodside girls to reach the CIF state championships last season. Only one has graduated, with diver Sophia Wells now competing at Columbia University. Senior Audrey Chung is also headed to the Ivy League at Brown University, while Huang is committed to UC San Diego.

“I think they’ll both make it to states (this year),” Woodside assistant coach Katie Comfort said.

Huang and Chung each captured four individual championships Saturday. Huang also persevered in the girls’ 500, winning it in 5:02.69, holding off Carlmont senior Sydney Niles, who took second in 5:03.71. Huang and Chung also teamed in the 200 medley relay with juniors Celia VanDeWyer and Kate Stevenson to win it in 1:49.95. In the 200 free relay, Huang, Chung, Stevenson and junior Margot Legros won it handily in 1:40.83.

Carlmont boys back on top

Carlmont swept the varsity team championships. It was business as usual for the girls’ team, who have now won five all-time team titles, including last year. The boys’ team, however, saw its streak of dominance end in 2023 when Aragon captured the team title. This year, the two teams were running neck and neck heading into the boys’ 400 free relay, the final event of the day.

“It took all the way to those 400 free relays,” Carlmont head coach Derek Koo said. “It was close all the way throughout, and it wasn’t even guaranteed then.”

Mills won the boys’ 400 free relay, with Alex Vasquez, Dylan Yang, Benjamin Nopper and William Walz taking the title in 3:16.00. Carlmont, though, claimed the advantage over Aragon. The Scots — William Garrish, Colby Laser, Myles Hu and Zerach Chan — took second place in 3:19.62. Aragon settled for third in 3:23.53.

Even then, Carlmont’s championship wasn’t guaranteed, as all eyes turned to the “B” 400 free relay event. The Scots delivered the win, with the all-underclassman team of Ryan Choong, Derek Moon, Gregory Duffy and Lucas Zago topping the field in 3:29.49. Aragon placed fourth in the heat.

“There was a lot of pressure because they told us before us winning might count on our relay,” Zago said. “So, we did a ton of planning, we did a ton of warmup, and we knew we needed to do, and we executed it.”

Zago said he had never earned a win of consequence over the course of the season.

“I just knew I had to go as fast as possible, so I just sprinted the entire thing,” Zago said. “I didn’t pace or anything. And then the last 25 (yards), when I saw the swimmer next to me was pretty behind, I knew that we won, but still kept going.”

As it turned out, Carlmont had more breathing room than was thought when the starting gun on the “B” relay fired.

“I think the ‘A’ relay’s performance made it safe for the ‘B’ relays,” Koo said. “All they needed to do was finish.”

Other championships

Smith totaled four championships on the day for Aragon. His first-place time in the boys’ 100 fly of 51.73, breaking the program record previously set by Masa Oto in 2010. And his reaction at the wall, after the time appeared on the scoreboard, said it all.

“That was the best time,” Smith said of his punching the water in celebration. “A personal best.”

In the prelims, Smith settled for the second-best time behind Carlmont senior Ziad Sellami. In the finals, they finished one-two, with Smith touching the wall 1.09 seconds faster.

“I knew I had to be a lot more aggressive on the front end,” Smith said. “I know his back half is better than mine, so just making sure I kept my rhythm, and not getting too scared on him on my last leg.”

Preuss totaled three wins for M-A, including a title in the girls’ 200 free in 1:51.95. She also teamed in the girls’ 400 free relay with Elise Miller, Natalie Scafetta and Maya Early for a first-place time of 3:39.21.

The Gentleman Scots also earned a win from sophomore Roham Amina in the boys’ 200 free in 2:03.64.

The Lady Scots opened the day with a win in the girls’ 200 medley relay. Aubrey Button, Darcy Winters, Lauren Henne and Amelie Ortner recorded a first-place time of 2:06.34. In the girls’ 200 free, sophomore June Wakefield won it in 2:17.43, outlasting teammate Emily Borschelt’s second-place time of 2:18.18. Niles won the girls’ 200 IM in 2:04.50.

Other winners were: In the boys’ 200 medley relay, M-A’s team of JD Coolican, Kieran Narayan, Joseph Tompkins and Evan Ten Vaanholt won it in 1:53.99; in the girls’ 100 back, Burlingame freshman Alexa Chang impressed with a first-place time of 57.37; in the boys’ 100 free, Aragon’s Vattuone won it in 47.20; and in the boys’ 100 breast, Aragon’s Lee won it in 59.22.

Chan still the man for Carlmont

Carlmont had two good-luck charms on hand, with 2015 graduate Nico Camerino and 2016 grad Alex Chan manning the coaches’ table.

Camerino holds the program record in the 200 medley relay with his brother Josh, Stuart Vickery and Elias Sebti. However, during Camerino’s senior year, Carlmont had never won a PAL meet championship. The Scots came up short that year. With former head coach Fred Farley just taking over the program, though, Camerino knew he was leaving the program in good hands.

“He put is on me,” Chan said. “Then, together with Fred, I was like: ‘I’m going to make this happen.’”

Of the Gentleman Scots’ seven PAL Bay Division meet titles, 2016 was the first.

“We came out swinging,” Chan said. “We made it happen. And then we turned it into a 10-year win streak.”

Around the Bay Division

San Mateo head coach Kathy Parodi said she couldn’t remember the last time her girls’ team didn’t have any CCS qualifiers. But that was the case this year. Instead, the Bearcats’ CCS hopes are riding on the boys’ team, with three individual qualifiers and one relay qualifier.

Ciaran Lee is set to compete at the CCS meet in the 200 and 500 free; Ivan Chang in the 50 and 100 free; and Kevin Jiang in the 200 IM and 100 back. Lee, Chang, Jiang and Kirill Khramcov also qualified to compete in the 400 free relay.

Sequoia is in a rebuilding year, but head coach Corey Braddock touted the turnout for this year’s program. Braddock, who competed collegiately at West Point, is technically in his second season as coach, but took over midway through the 2023 season, when there were only 28 swimmers in the entire program. This year, Sequoia had 29 PAL qualifiers alone, including CCS qualifier in four events, sophomore Erin Chow.

“So, it’s been a good year for us,” Braddock said. “A real growing year.”