2021 Pacific Coast All-Star Meet
- January 8 – 9, 2022
- Pacifica, California
- Jean E. Brink Swimming Pool
- Short Court Yards (SCY)
- Results
At the 2021 Pacific Coast All-Star Meet, Bella Brito nearly had a freestyle sweep when she won the 13-14 50 and 100 freestyles and added a second-place finish in the 200. She won the 50 freestyle with a 23.75, just ahead of Sophie Sunwoo‘s 23.80, and took the 100 freestyle crown with a 51.24. Sunwoo was also the runner-up in the 100 with a 1:52.12. Those swims were just off her PBs from fall 2021 of 22.88 and 49.79.
In 200 freestyle Alexa McDevitt out-swam Brito’s 1:52.12 with a 1:51.94, while Audrey Lee rounded out the podium in a 1:53.15. McDevitt also took gold in the 500 freestyle with a 5:01.99. Brito added another top 3 finishes in the breaststroke and IM events by winning the 100 breaststroke in a 1:03.16, winning the 200 IM in a 2:03.84, and placing 3rd in the 200 with a 2:19.19.
Both Kaitlyn Nguyen and Alexis Mesina were in the top 3 in both breaststroke events as well. Nguyen was 2nd in the 100 breast (1:03.47) and 1st in the 200 (2:14.43). That 200 breaststroke victory for Nguyen was a particularly wide margin, taking gold by more than 4 seconds as Mesina followed with a 2:18.43.
Nguyen also won the 13-14 400 IM in a 4:26.16, which was a few seconds off her seed time of 4:26.16. Gracyn Kehoe followed with a 4:28.92 and Brooke Bennett was a 4:31.77 for third.
Double runner-up in the sprint freestyles Sophia Sunwoo got to the wall first in the 100 backstroke (56.47), narrowly defeating Gracyn Aquino (56.65). Sunwoo swam a personal best of 54.36 last month in the 100 backstroke, while Aquino holds a PB of 55.74.
Clark Kent Apuada was in the water on the 13-14 boys’ side and swam to victory in the 50 freestyle with a 22.28. Apuada shaved 0.04 seconds off his former best time in the event, finishing just ahead of Peter Vu‘s 22.40. He nearly won the 100 freestyle as well, touching with a 48.32 to improve upon his PB of 48.52, but Andrew Coombs got his hand on the wall first in a 47.82. Coombs’ sub-48 swim was a slight PB as well, beating his own 47.92.
Aiden Hammer and Zach Tower topped the field in the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle, respectively. Hammer posted a 1:43.79 best time in the 200 freestyle to out-swim runner-up Edward Kim (1:44.17). Hammer couldn’t quite out-touch Tower in the 500 freestyle, though, and placed second with a 4:37.14 to Tower’s 4:36.61 for the win.
Hammer also swam to victory in the 200 backstroke with a 1:54.57, which was an improvement upon his PB of 1:55.35.
In addition to his 2nd place swim in the 200 free, Edward Kim picked up 3 gold medals in the 100 butterfly, 100 breaststroke, and 200 IM. He won the fly event in a 59.37, followed closely by Ethan Suehiro (59.61) and Peter Vu (59.72). In the 100 breast Kim swam a 50.58 for the swim, while Andrew Coombs was a 51.22 for second place.
In the 200 IM, Edward Kim was nearly two second ahead of the field with his 1:55.47 and shaved 0.05 seconds off his seed time of 1:55.52. Peter Vu was 2nd in a 1:57.33, while Matthew Kim placed 3rd with a 1:57.96.
In the 11-12 age category a number of swimmers picked up multiple wins including Charlotte Milkie, Alyssa Ton, and Mia SU for the girls and Luka Mijatovic, Syunta Lee, and Aiden Yeo for the boys.
Milkie won the 11-12 girls 100 and 500 freestyles with a 54.79 and 5:23.04, respectively, while Alyssa Ton picked up 4 wins in the 50 back (28.24), 50 fly (26.90), 100 IM (1:00.68), and 200 IM (2:13.56). Mia SU was golden in both the 50 and 100 breaststrokes, touching the wall in a 31.31 in the former and a 1:06.55 in the latter. SU won the 100 breast by nearly 4 seconds as Vivian Taylor took silver in a 1:10.29.
As for the boys, Luka Mijatovic topped the podium in the 100 freestyle, 500 freestyle, and 200 IM. Both the 100 free and 200 IMs were PBs as he went from a 52.10 to a 51.05 and a 2:03.68 to a 2:01.95. Syunta Lee matched that 3-event victory by Mijatovic by earning gold in the 50 back (27.04), 100 back (55.94), and 200 freestyle (1:51.39).
The third triple winner amongst 11-12 boys was Aiden Yeo who was the only sub-24 50 freestyler, posting a 23.80 to win that event. He also won the 100 butterfly in a 54.99 and the 100 IM in a 56.91.
Go! Edward! Go! Bella!