RIVERSIDE When Jake Espinoza arrived at Segerstrom as a freshman, he could float but not swim.
“I would stay afloat but that’s the best I could do,” he said. “I didn’t even know there were four strokes.”
Still, he gave water polo and swimming a chance, following a friend to the pool deck after transferring from Godinez.
Espinoza, now a senior, recalled those humble beginnings late Friday night after capping the CIF-SS Division 4 swimming finals by setting two school records with his teammates in the 400-yard freestyle relay, pictured above.
He led off the relay in a school-record 52.33 seconds for 100 yards and combined with David Khu, Anthony Saavedra and Christian Sanchez to finish 12th in the 400 with a school-record 3:30.07.
“It makes me want to go for more,” Espinoza said of the records. “I keep trying (to get) better. Better than I was yesterday.”
Espinoza plans to attend Santa Ana College and swim for the Dons.
Please send swiminng news to Dan Albano at dalbano@ocregister.com
