Despite what seemed like an easy victory Friday for the Dos Pueblos swim team, which defeated Santa Barbara 106-64 in the boys event and 111-58 in the girls event, both the Dons and Chargers swam stupendously, setting several personal records and earning CIF consideration times.
DP boys head coach Chris Parrish said that the Chargers were able to out-touch the Dons on a number of events, making the meet a much closer win.
“The score at the end of the meet is not going to be indicative of how well both teams swam,” Parrish said.
The boys 400 free relay was undoubtedly one of the most exciting events of the day, with the Dons and Chargers swimming neck-and-neck until the very end. Chargers Austin Cappon, Chase Racich, Christian Terpening, and Drew Casier squeaked by with 3:16.19, while the Dons team placed second with 3:16.85.
“I think the last event was actually pretty outstanding,” Parrish said. “It just summed up how the day just went with everyone swimming as fast as they could.”
DP’s Nolan Gardner swept both the 50 and 100 free events with personal best times.
“Those were the two showcase events of the meet,” Parrish said. “It was an outstanding day for him. We were very happy for him and very proud of him.”
Gardner said that his teammates found stronger motivation to win after a disqualification on the 200 medley.
“I think we did a lot better today after one of us DQ’d,” Gardner said. “That just made all of us want to work harder. I think we were a little bit behind then and we wanted to get ahead so we all just tried to do our best after that.”
Drew Casier was also a standout for the Chargers, taking first place in the 200 free and 200 free relay.
Dons head coach Mark Walsh said that Samantha King was the standout swimmer on the girls side.
“She had a phenomenal meet,” Walsh said. “She qualified for CIF in two individual events, which she’s never done before.”
Santa Barbara’s Karl Boscacci, who placed first in the 200 medley and 500 free, and collected two second place finishes in the 400 free relay and 200 free, said he was impressed with how well his team did in the meet.
“I’m really proud of all the guys today,” Boscacci said. “They had some of their best times and they did a great job.”
Walsh also highlighted sophomore Mark Davis, who collected a couple of personal records after dropping 2 ½ seconds in the 100 back and 8 seconds in the 500 free.
“Even though he’s not one of the top guys or top finishers, he just swam as fast as he could,” Walsh said. “That’s what you obviously need to do when you swim against DP.”
Walsh said the Chargers were able to motivate his team to swim at their fastest times.
“You try to meet your potential, as opposed to beating them,” Walsh said. “They brought the best in us. They made us swim really fast and we appreciate that.”
