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Corey Okubo of Aquazot, pictured center with Coach Brian Pajer and teammate Thomas Smith, is one of the county's swimmers to watch at this week's Junior Nationals in Irvine.
Corey Okubo of Aquazot, pictured center with Coach Brian Pajer and teammate Thomas Smith, is one of the county’s swimmers to watch at this week’s Junior Nationals in Irvine.
Dan Albano. Sports HS Reporter.

// MORE INFORMATION: Staff Mug Shot taken August 26, 2010 : by KATE LUCAS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER.

Corey Okubo’s schedule might be light, but the Aquazot swimmer could still make a sizable impact this week at the Speedo Junior National Championships in Irvine.

The Register’s two-time male swimmer of the year is on that kind of a roll.

The recent University High graduate will be in the spotlight Wednesday as he races the 200-meter butterfly on the opening day of the meet at the Woollett Aquatics Center.

The 18-and-under meet – featuring some of the brightest up-and-coming swimmers in the nation – runs through Sunday with finals each day at 6 p.m. Prelims begin daily at 9 a.m.

Okubo, bound for Princeton, is seeded second in the 200 butterfly with an entry time of 1 minute, 58.28 seconds, seven one-hundredths of a second behind Justin Wright of the Fresno Dolphins.

Okubo’s strong summer of racing at the Olympic distance has included a victory in the 200 butterfly at the TYR Fran Crippen Memorial in Mission Viejo in June (1:58.60). He also had runner-up finishes in the event to U.S. national teamers Bobby Bollier and Tom Shields at the Speedo Grand Challenge (1:59.68) in May and Los Angeles Invite (1:58.73) in July.

Okubo is seeded second in his other event, the 200 backstroke, on Thursday.

He is limiting his schedule this week because his focus remains on next week’s Phillips 66 National Championships, a senior-level meet that will include Michael Phelps among others.

Orange County’s lineup for juniors appears deep after Okubo.

Crean Lutheran senior-to-be Ella Eastin of SOCAL is entered in two events. She is seeded first in the 200 individual medley, which she won at last year’s meet in Irvine in 2:13.66. Eastin’s sister, Emily, is a contender in the backstrokes.

Recent Crean Lutheran graduate Lindsey Engel is seeded second in the 100 free and fifth in the 100 butterfly, while Foothill junior-to-be Courtney Mykkanen of the host Irvine Novaquatics is positioned second in the 200 backstroke.

Other county swimmers to watch: Capistrano Valley graduate Brooke Lorentzen (Mission Viejo Nadadores), JSerra senior-to-be Kaitlyn Albertoli (San Clemente Aquatics), Woodbridge senior-to-be Daniela Georges (Aquazot), Sonora sophomore-to-be Taylor Ault (La Mirada Armada), Kennedy’s Ryan Kao (La Mirada Armada) and Edison sophomore-to-be Nora Deleske (Golden West). The Nadadores’ Katie McLaughlin (Santa Margarita) is not entered in an individual event.

Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com