IRVINE – Sierra Schmidt skipped to her starting block Friday night, bobbing her head to the Pharrell Williams song “Happy” playing in her headphones.
The 16-year-old swimmer from the North Baltimore club seemed to keep dancing and smiling right to the start of her 400-meter freestyle final at the Speedo Junior National Championships.
DAY 3: Results from the Speedo Juniors
And the newcomer to arguably the most famous swim club in the world was still smiling afterward.
Schmidt continued to race like the breakout performer of the meet by capturing the race by almost 1 1/2 seconds with a lifetime-best time of 4 minutes, 10.92 seconds at the Woollett Aquatics Center.
So is Schmidt always so upbeat before races? Oh, yeah. She was dancing the Wobble in the staging area before the 400 free.
“It’s something that just loosens me and gets me ready for my event,” she said of her dancing.
“When I joined (North Baltimore) a month ago, we went to a meet in Georgia and I had gone dancing behind the blocks and everyone thought it was freaking hilarious.
“Actually, Michael Phelps was there. He was laughing at me doing it, and he filmed me.”
Phelps will be in Irvine next week for seniors, but Schmidt has been one of the stars of the juniors. She also captured the 800 freestyle on Wednesday with a lifetime-best 8:34.58.
She recently left Pennsylvania’s Germantown Academy club to join ranks with Phelps’ North Baltimore, about a two-hour drive from her home. She is living in an apartment with her father, Joseph, and training with rising distance stars such as Gillian Ryan, 18, and Cierra Runge, 18.
Schmidt’s mother, Mindy, and sister, Trinity, 12, remain in Pennsylvania.
“It was a family decision,” Schmidt said. “The transition has been fantastic.”
Southern California’s best event Friday was the women’s 100 butterfly as Upland senior-to-be Sonia Wang of Redlands Swim Team (1:00.27), Crean Lutheran grad Lindsey Engel of the JCC Waves (1:00.36) and Corona del Mar freshman-to-be Eva Merrell of Aquazot finished fourth, sixth and seventh, respectively.
All three clocked lifetime-best times with Merrell posting the 10th fastest time all-time in the 13-14 age group.
Wang also reached her third final in as many days, all of which have featured lifetime-best times.
Engel, known for her sprint-freestyle speed, impressed in one of her lesser-known events. “Fly is something kind of new to try and dig into and see where I can go,” the Stanford-bound swimmer said. “I think it’s been working out pretty well so far. … It’s fun to see places where I can continue dropping (time).”
CIF-SS champion Alex Valente of Dos Pueblos took the men’s fly in a lifetime-best 53.09, and Veronica Burchill of Indiana’s Carmel won the women’s 100 fly in 59.63. Rose Bowl’s Sascha Subarsky finished fifth in the men’s 100 fly in 54.16.
Indiana University’s men’s 800 free won in a meet-record 7:28.28, also the national-age group for the 15-18 division.
Valente hopes to break the 53-second barrier next week at nationals.
“I’m not leaving without a 52 for sure,” he said.
Townley Haas of Nova of Virginia joined Schmidt as a meet double-winner by taking the men’s 400 free 3:52.01, just off his meet record.
Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com
