2023 CIF-SS Swimming and Diving Division I Championships
- April 27-May 6, 2023
- Riverside Aquatic Complex
- SCY (25 Yards)
- Results
- Defending Champions:
- Girls: Santa Margarita
- Boys: Santa Margarita
Girls Prelims Recap
Saint Margarita’s Teagan O’Dell lit up the prelims session of the Division I 2023 CIF-Southern Swimming and Diving Championships. She broke two meet records in her two individual events, and will have another crack at both of them during finals.
First, the sophomore ripped 1:54.07 in the 200 IM. That betters her previous meet record of 1:55.46 by more than a second. It’s also a new personal best, undercutting the 1:55.15 she swam to win last year’s CIF State Championship. The big difference for O’Dell is the fly leg; she opened in 24.87 at this meet compared to the 26.24 she split on her way to her previous best time.
Her second meet record of the day came in the 100 backstroke. There, she clocked 51.63, breaking Cindy Tran‘s mark of 51.85, which had stood since 2010. It also shaves .23 seconds off her previous best, which she swam to finish second at Winter Juniors – West. Last year, O’Dell won the 100 back both at this meet and the CIF State Championships with a pair of 52s–she’s already eclipsed both those times.
O’Dell didn’t race on any of the relays during prelims, but given that she’s a part of not only two meet record teams but two NFHS record ones, it’s safe to say that she’ll swap onto the relays during the finals session on May 6.
O’Dell’s teammate Gracyn Aquino also secured lane 4 for two individual finals. The sophomore secured the top seed in the 50 freestyle with a lifetime best, breaking 23 seconds for the first time with a 22.91. She also shaved four-hundredths off her personal best in the 100 free with a 50.46.
That made her the fastest qualifier in that event as well, as she out-touched her senior teammate Asia Kozan by two-tenths. With four girls clocking 50-points in prelims–Aquino, Kozan, Sierra Tallman, and Lily Neumann–there should be a great race for the title. For her part, Kozan claimed lane 4 for the 200 freestyle. The UC-San Diego commit clocked 1:46.88, setting herself up as the favorite there as the second fastest time was a 1:49.59 from Woodbridge’s Zara Masud.
Corona del Mar’s Maggie Schalow was the other girl to qualify first in two individuals: the 100 fly and 500 free. Schalow is headed to UVA in the fall, and posted 53.17 in the 100 fly and 4:51.00 in the 500 free. Both are off her best times, but she’s put herself in a strong position to potentially claim two titles this year after being the runner-up in the 100 fly and 200 free last year.
Boys Prelims Recap
Like the girls’ side, three boys each claimed lane 4 in two individual events: Rex Maurer, Colin Geer, and Jonathan Gim.
Maurer, who’s verbally committed to join his brother Luke Maurer at Stanford in the fall, got things started by posting the top time in the 200 free with a 1:35.89. He dropped about a second and a half from prelims to finals when he won the event last year, so watch for him to have a similar drop in store.
He’s also aiming to defend his title in the 500 free, where he set the tone at 4:24.48. He’s capable of being much faster than that; last year, he set a then-personal best of 4:13.80 to win. Based on prelims, it looks like both of these races will be Maurer against the clock for the title, with a tighter race for the other spots on the podium.
One thing to keep an eye on with Maurer is where he swims on the relays. Last year, he led off Loyola’s 400 free relay with a meet record 43.76. In prelims this year, he anchored that relay and opened the 200 free relay, where he clocked 20.33.
Geer, a Michigan commit, topped the prelims field in the 200 IM (1:46.90) and 100 fly (47.61). His 200 IM swim was just off his personal best of 1:46.36, which he swam for seventh at Winter Juniors – West. He asserted himself early in the race with a 22.95 fly split–the only one in the field to go under 23 seconds. Noah Sech made up some ground on the back half of the race, but he’s sitting well back of Geer after prelims with a 1:48.30. Ray Liu is just a tenth behind him in third, so there’s a tight race shaping up there.
The 100 fly projects to be a much closer race, as Geer edged out David Schmitt for the top qualifier by just two-hundredths. Neither Geer or Schmitt–who’s committed to Harvard–hit their personal bests (which are about a tenth apart), and both should be faster in finals.
Like in the girls’ meet, the same swimmer earned lane 4 in both freestyle sprints. West Ranch’s Gim claimed the 50 free in 20.28 and the 100 free in 44.39. That 50 free time is a personal best by a hundredth for the Brown commit, bettering the mark he posted just last month. His 100 free is also a new best time, undercutting the 44.54 he swam at Carlsbad Sectionals in March. Both these times would make him the second fastest swimmer on Brown’s 2022-23 roster in these events.
Full List of Top Finals Qualifiers
- Girls 200 Medley Relay: 1:45.28 — Hart
- Boys 200 Medley Relay: 1:30.79 — St Margarita
- Girls 200 Freestyle: 1:46.88 — Asia Kozan, St Margarita
- Boys 200 Freestyle: 1:35.89 — Rex Maurer, Loyola
- Girls 200 IM: 1:54.07 — Teagan O’Dell, St Margarita
- Boys 200 IM: 1:46.90 — Colin Geer, Poly-LB
- Girls 50 Freestyle: 22.91 — Gracyn Aquino, St Margarita
- Boys 50 Freestyle: 20.28 — Jonathan Gim, West Ranch
- Girls 100 Butterfly: 53.17 — Maggie Schalow, Corona del Mar
- Boys 100 Butterfly: 47.61 — Colin Geer, Poly-LB
- Girls 100 Freestyle: 50.46 — Gracyn Aquino, St Margarita
- Boys 100 Freestyle: 44.39 — Jonathan Gim, West Ranch
- Girls 500 Freestyle: 4:51.00 — Maggie Schalow, Corona del Mar
- Boys 500 Freestyle: 4:24.48 — Rex Maurer, Loyola
- Girls 200 Freestyle Relay: 1:36.09 — Harvard Westlake
- Boys 200 Freestyle Relay: 1:22.47 — Loyola
- Girls 100 Backstroke: 51.63 — Teagan O’Dell, St Margarita
- Boys 100 Backstroke: 48.37 — Ray Liu, Loyola
- Girls 100 Breaststroke: 1:01.50 — Kaitlyn Nguyen, Fountain Valley
- Boys 100 Breaststroke: 54.90 — Christopher Leung, Northwood
- Girls 400 Freestyle Relay: 3:27.44 — San Marcos
- Boys 400 Freestyle Relay: 3:01.99 — Loyola
Ava DeAnda (Frosh) leads Riverside Poly Bears D2 with top seeds in Medley & 200 Free relay while also taking first in 100 Free 49.57 (faster than D1) & taking 1st in the 200 Free 1:48.67 (would be D1 2nd qualifier) see you at State!
OMG. Land your helicopter. Your child was highlighted and widely mentioned in the other Swim Swam article about the D2 meet. Was that not enough? This is a D1 meet article. Let OTHER kids have a moment to shine. “Faster than D1”? and “Would be D1 2nd qualifier”? Mama Mia…
What if we all started going on the D2 articles and writing about how many of the D1 swimmers would have beat the D2 swimmers? Would that be fun or not fun?
Sims was 1:56.1 at the end of sophomore year, Hook was 1:54.8, no one in the class of 2021 was under 1:57, Alex Walsh was 1:54.02, and no one in the class of 2019 was under 1:57 (Ivey was like 1:57.1, Douglass was 1:59.3)
This is so fast and she might even end up faster than Alex after finals tomorrow
also she is one of two sophomores who has gone 1:43 in the 200 free since 2010 (and possibly since forever?) with her 1:43.9 from Jr Nats last December, the other being Ivey who was 1:43.6 her sophomore year.
The next fastest were Bella Sims and Missy Franklin who were “only” 1:44.2 by the end of sophomore year, followed by Regan Smith at 1:44.4 and Ledecky at 1:44.5
edit: lol I forgot Weinstein was 1:43.93 in the same race as ODell, 0.01 faster than her
There are actually 4 current sophomores with 1:43s, Teagan ODell, Claire Weinstein, Alex Shackell, and Madi Mitenko. This class is stacked.
A 1:54.0 in prelims 👀
From a sophomore