RIVERSIDE – Fairmont Prep championed quality over quantity Friday night at the CIF-SS Division 4 finals.
The small, private school in Anaheim sent its only two swimmers, seniors Edgar Chin and Evan Munaretto, to the starting blocks at Riverside City College and left with four blue, first-place medals and one of the top performances in the 100-yard breaststroke in Orange County history.
The Huskies’ medal haul for the week was five because diver Michelle Lee captured the Division 4 girls title.
“We’re kind of humble about it, honestly,” said Chin, who captured the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke, the latter in a division-record and county-leading 54.89 seconds.
“I kind of wanted more recognition at my school. I go around and tell (people), ‘Hey, did you know we have a swim team?’ (They say) no.”
Chin left a lasting impression. The UC San Diego-bound senior tied Daniel Kim of Irvine (Division 1, 1999) for the No. 3 time in the 100 breaststroke in Orange County history.
The La Mirada Armada club swimmer also sliced about three-quarters of a second off his personal best, and set a high bar for the Division 1 and Division 2 swimmers competing Saturday.
“I wanted to go out and kind of leave my mark here, kind of show that anyone can go really fast no matter where they are,” said Chin, who won the 200 individual medley in a lifetime-best 1:57.72. “I hope maybe some people remember me as that guy from Division 4.”
Munaretto approached his best times in dominating victories in the 200 (1:40.29) and 500 (4:36.86) freestyles.
“I wish I would have gone a little faster but I’m happy,” said the New York University-bound senior, who helped Fairmont place 14th in the team standings. “As long as you’re swimming fast, it doesn’t matter where you are.”
Ocean View combined quality and quantity. The Golden West League champion qualified the most county swimmers for the meet and finished the highest.
The Seahawks girls finished eighth with help from double-finalist Serena Ly and a fifth-place 400 relay (3:50.07) that consisisted of Ly, Leyna Tran, water polo standout Shannon Graham and Elena Isogawa.
The Ocean View boys finished 10th – Cerritos swept both titles – behind freshman Dominic Falcon, who placed second in the 200 (1:43.81) and 500 (4:46.23) freestyles in lifetime-best times.
“The biggest thing was to make a statement this year,” first-year Ocean View coach Joey Garcia said. “Next year, we’re actually going to go after this. … We have a very young boys team.”
Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com
