Sea Kings in for a change

Bryce Alderton

The thrill of competition.

That’s what Corona del Mar High boys swim coach Tim Salvino wanted

when he was a senior at UC Irvine and finished out his collegiate

career with a year’s stint with the swim team. Salvino, the CdM boys

water polo coach, loves the thrill of competition and wants to spread

similar sentiments to his swimmers, some of whom will compete for the

final time as preps.

“If you’re not enjoying the process, you’re missing a lot of what

it’s all about,” said Salvino, who takes over for Todd Larsen, who

resigned last summer after one season at the helm of the Sea Kings.

The last two CdM boys coaches have each lasted one year, so Salvino

wants to bring some stability to the program.

As with many teams, he inherits a group littered with water polo

players, that he hopes, make the transition into swim season a smooth

one.

“Most have been around swimming, but just haven’t committed to it

year-round,” Salvino said. “So I don’t have to start from scratch.”

Sophomore Bryan Buhagiar and senior James Strack, both club

swimmers, do swim year round, and are two of Salvino’s potent weapons

in the water.

Strack is one of the faster freestylers on the team, Salvino said.

Seniors Ryan Moore, John Money, David DiRocco, Tyler Brundage,

Kevin Amendt, Artie Dorr and junior Robert Fries, give CdM

explosiveness in several strokes, according to Salvino. Moore will be

solid as a middle distance specialist with Di Rocco doing many

freestyle sprints. Brundage has the best backstroke on the team,

Salvino said, and Amendt and Dorr will give CdM depth in the

longer-distance races. Fries, Money and senior Spencer Harris all

swim the butterfly well.

Swimmers under Salvino’s watchful eye shouldn’t get too

comfortable with any one stroke or technique.

“I want to try as many different things as possible,” Salvino

said. “It’s a lot easier to deal with all the demands if the workouts

are enjoyable. Variety means fun. I hope the kids try things they

haven’t done before.”

Qualifying as many swimmers as early as possible for the CIF

Division II preliminaries and finals is the main goal for Salvino.

In addition to the above mentioned, the senior class includes

Brett Brewer, Jason Di Rocco, Ali Kattan and John Mann. Griffin

Gentry, Nadeem Hakim, Travis Hersh, Daniel Niehenke, Dariush Rafieah,

Tyler Schoenberg, Hunter Sheetz and Scott Street headline the junior

class in addition to the aforementioned swimmers.

The sophomore class features Chandler Anthony, James Blackford,

Christopher Crawford, Chad March, Gregory Meyer, Thomas Pearson,

Spencer Pirdy, Walker Russell, Benjamin Sanders and Gaston Sanford.

Salvino has 16 freshman to choose from that include Eric Cox,

Phillip DiGiacomo, Schuyler Harris, Kyle Hersh, Justin Hupp, Matthew

Jones, Tyler Kent, James Kline, Thomas Money, Jacob Murphy, Adrian

Niehenke, Brian Powers, Scott Sanford, Timothy Schoenberg, Eric

Seagondollar and Marshall Tutton.