Boys end season as CIF runner-up
SWIM Brahmas swim team’s dominant performance in League carries over to CIF.
Freshman Stephen Lee competed in breaststroke for boys at League Finals.
May 22, 2018
After a nearly undefeated year, the Diamond Bar High School varsity swim team ended the season with a cannonball finish. The boys left other teams in the Palomares League washed up with a record of 8-0, while the girls finished strong with an overall record of 5-2.
In the Palomares League finals, held at the DBHS pool, the boys remaining the undefeated league champions for the fourth year in a row while the girls team placed fourth. At finals, multiple individual swimmers were crowned, such as junior Kevin Vargas, who was named MVP of the league. Vargas placed first in the varsity boys 200 IM and 500 free. Other swimmers who excelled included Kelly Cheng, who placed third in the 200 freestyle as well as second place in the 100 butterfly and William Huang, who placed first in the 100 freestyle.
However, the Brahmas were not able to bring home the CIF title, as the boys placed second with a score of 205 and girls placed 15th with a score of 83. In addition, senior Kelsey Lloyd won first place in the 100 breaststroke.
“This year was kind of tough for me, as I had to overcome a couple of injuries. So I had to push through those and still have good swim times,” Lloyd said.
This year’s swim team was led by Lloyd and freshman Vincent Cheng, both of whom broken school and personal records. Lloyd had broken the girl’s 100 breaststroke record in her sophomore year after winning CIF, and has continually been breaking records ever since. Her most recent record is 1:02.07, set last year at CIF state. Cheng, on the other hand, has set and broke his own record twice for the boy’s 100 butterfly, beating his 51.83 second score by .03 seconds.
“Being part of the Diamond Bar swim team has been a fun experience that changed me to get out of my comfort zone,” Cheng said.
Head coach Darlys Ankeny said she was pleased with the performance of this year’s team and is looking forward to next season.
“[We] still need more team camaraderie,” Ankeny said. “It’s [graduating seniors] going to hurt quite a bit; we still have some great talent though.”