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Eastlake short on numbers, not on talent

By Phillip Brents

New Eastlake High School swimming coach Greg Magno may not exactly refer to them as the "Magnificent Seven," but the seven swimmers who comprise this year’s Titan boys varsity squad are a hearty bunch. Just as much talent exists on the slightly larger girls team, as Magno finds himself in what he refers to as "building process" with the program.

"We’re starting to build the program. We have several excellent swimmers. We need to build up our numbers," Mango said.

Leading the returners is 2001 San Diego Section Division II 50-yard freestyle champion Nik Clair-Williams. A junior this year, Clair-Williams has set his sights on notching an automatic All-American time in the event. He fell just two-tenths of a second short of attaining his goal of recording a consideration All-American time last year despite winning the event at the division finals.

Clair-Williams has already posted automatic qualifying marks in both the 50 and 100 freestyle events for this year’s section divisional championship meet May 18 at Mt. Carmel High School.

The automatic All-Amer-ican standard in the 50 free is 21.0 seconds. His fastest this season is 22.6. Though the time difference may seem intimidating to make up for the short distance, Clair-Williams quickly points out that it is only midseason and that he has yet to taper for post-season competition. All other indicators, he said, support what he’s been trying to accomplish in his current workout regimen.

"I’m doing a lot more swimming this year than last year, two-a-day workouts. I’ve increased the yardage," he said. "My 100 free is a lot faster (at this point) than last year."

The challenge of making the automatic All-American time standard and defending his 50-sprint title become a bit more challenging this year as Eastlake moves up to the Division I enrollment level. He won last year’s Division II title with a time of 21.91. This year he will be squaring off against elite North County competition that has already turned in midseason times of 20.66 in the event. Torrey Pines’ Ryan Karlson won last year’s Division I 50 free title in a section-record 20.90.

"I know I’m pretty far off right now but I feel I’m moving in the right direction. I’ve been using a drag suit most of the season and just now have started swimming in a more regular suit," he said.

Joining Clair-Williams on this year’s boys varsity team are standouts Robert Cruz and Edgar Cisneros, both seniors. Cruz finished fifth at last year’s Metro 100 breaststroke finals and will be looking to move up in the event this season. Cisneros’ specialty events are the 100 free and 100 butterfly. Rounding out the boys’ varsity squad are senior Javier Saguz (50 free and 100 backstroke), sophomore Max Lopez (100 fly and 100 free) and freshmen James Hiney (200 and 500 free) and Taylor Ward (100 backstroke and 50 free).

Though the Eastlake girls team features few returners, there appears to be a bounty of talent on which to build. Freshman Heather Waldorf has already met automatic CIF standards in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle distances while Julie Williamson is close to making a CIF consideration time in the butterfly. Other standouts include Jessica Germany (50 free and backstroke) and Sarah Womer (breaststroke) while Carmen Hamilton has also displayed potential. Samantha Womer handles the diving chores for the Titans.

Besides the individual talent, Eastlake is also banking on success with its boys and girls 200 medley and 200 free relay teams, all four of which have already met the CIF consideration standard. Both the boys and girls 200 medley teams are close to securing automatic times.

Fast times were on call in the April 18 South Bay League dual meet against Hilltop at the Parkway pool as nearly everyone on the team posted either season best or personal best times, according to Magno.

The Titans close out regular season competition May 2 against defending league champion Mar Vista. The Metro Conference prelims are scheduled May 8 (girls) and May 9 (boys), followed by the conference swimming finals May 10 -- all at Southwestern College.