Aliso Niguel's Klaren, Edison's Tran are top girls swimmers

One was a model of consistency before capturing CIF glory.

The other battled inconsistency before achieving her own spectacular finish.

Yes, Melanie Klaren of Aliso Niguel and Cindy Tran of Edison navigated different courses in 2010.

But make no mistake: It was hard to argue with their results.

For their efforts in the pool, Klaren and Tran are The Register's 2010 co-girls swimmers of the year.

Klaren, a junior, made the most of a fresh start. After not swimming for Mater Dei as a sophomore to focus on training, she made her return with a new school: Aliso Niguel.

Klaren showed improved speed, finishing the season undefeated and with two CIF Division 1 titles.

She won the 200-yard freestyle at the Division 1 finals in a lifetime-best 1 minute, 47.44 seconds. The time ranks Klaren third in county history behind two of Mission Viejo's stars of the early 1980s: Cynthia Woodhead (1:45.89, 1982) and Marybeth Linzmeier (1:46.62, 1981).

The Mission Viejo Nadadores' club swimmer also captured the 500 freestyle in a near lifetime-best 4:47.01, which places her 10th in county history.

Not bad for a junior.

"I was just really happy with how I swam," Klaren said. "I was able to kind of find a balance of being able to train (club) during high school swimming and do meets. ... It was just a consistent and solid season."

Klaren said the regular competition of the high school season was a highlight.

"I just love competing and racing people," she said. "I love high school swimming. It's my favorite part of swimming."

Klaren helped Aliso Niguel finish a narrow-second to Mission Viejo in the South Coast League and third in CIF Division 1 behind University and Edison.

Tran left her mark on county swimming by setting the national high school record in the 100-yard backstroke at the Division 1 finals. The Cal-bound senior smashed Olympic great Natalie Coughlin's record by a second by touching in an astonishing 51.85 seconds.

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Tran broke Coughlin's national age-group record for 15 and 16-year division in 2009 with a 52.52 but still didn't anticipate such a drop.

"I haven't been training very well," said Tran, a club swimmer with Golden West Swim Club. "I've been pretty lazy – I'm not going to lie. So the fact that I dropped is shocking."

Tran likely previewed her record by blazing her backstroke leadoff in the medley relay in sizzling 24.21 seconds. The time was almost a second faster than her 50 split of 25.04 in her national record race.

Edison's medley relay went on to set Division 1 and county record records with a 1:43.34. Tran ended her Division 1 finals by clocking the fastest split in the 400 freestyle relay. She blazed a 49.42 anchor to help the Chargers set Division 1 and county records with a 3:23.86.

While disappointed with some of results from the winter and spring, Tran said her national record is helping her focus.

"Going this time is remotivating me to train harder this summer, so I can go into the next year being up there," she said.

Klaren also is excited about the summer season. She is aiming to make the U.S. team for the Junior Pan Pacific Championships.

And don't be surprised if the Klaren-Tran ticket resurfaces in college. Klaren said Cal – third at last season's NCAA championships – is one of the schools she is interested in attending.