MISSION VIEJO – Katie McLaughlin didn’t claim the top step of the awards podium but smiled and waved to her Cal teammates from the third-place perch.
Her mannerisms probably seemed simple Friday night but McLaughlin, 18, didn’t take them for granted.
“I’m just happy to be here and racing and home,” she said after placing third in the 200-meter butterfly at the TYR Fran Crippen Memorial Swim Meet of Champions at the Marguerite Recreation Center.
In January, the Santa Margarita graduate and collegiate freshman fractured two vertebrae in her neck while on a training trip in Hawaii with her Cal teammates.
The injury knocked her from the competition pool and required a neck brace and physical therapy.
She returned to her club team, the Mission Viejo Nadadores, in March to continue her rehabilitation and train for the U.S. Olympic Trials, now only two months away.
The competition now looks more challenging for McLaughlin, who finished the 200 butterfly in 2 minutes, 13.88 seconds, well off her lifetime-best 2.06.95 from the World Championships last summer or her meet-record 2:07.93 here last June.
Claremont’s Noelle Tarazona, 23, outdistanced McLaughlin and Olympian Haley Anderson by about a second with a 2:12.78. But McLaughlin seemed to recognize there were more important things Friday than times.
“Yes,” she said with a laugh. “I’m just taking it one day at a time.”
Grant Shoults of the host Nadadores nearly won the men’s 200 butterfly. The Santa Margarita senior used a strong final five strokes to finish second to fellow 18-year-old Brendan Meyer by five hundredths of second with a 2:00.77. Meyer touched in 2:00.72.
Abbey Weitzeil of Canyons Aquatic opened the meet by lowering her meet-record in the 100 freestyle with a 54.13. The 19-year-old from Santa Clarita wanted to be a bit quicker but left somewhat satisfied.
“I’m wanted to be a little faster because this is definitely a training meet,” she said. “I’m really tired, really sore right now, so considering that, it’s a decent time.”
The women’s 200 backstroke also featured a close finish. Cal’s Amy Bilquist out-touched 16-year-old Eva Merrell of the Aquazot by about three-tenths of a second to win in 2:13.22.
The Nadadores’ Stephanie Peacock, 23, continued to impress by dominating the 400 free. She clocked a 4:10.65, one night after winning the 800 free in a near-best time.
“I don’t count her out (in the 800 at Trials),” Nadadores coach Bill Rose said of Peacock.
Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com
