Loss has a silver lining for Sea Kings

CORONA DEL MAR ? Doug Volding stands by his saying that he is happy when his swimmers do their best, no matter the result.

Volding sat in his chair and smiled, reflecting on the dual meet of the day. While his Corona del Mar girls team had just lost to Mission Viejo, 95.5-74.5, Volding was overjoyed with the CIF meet qualifying times, the All-American qualifying times and the personal bests.

Lexie Shue (in the 500-yard freestyle in 4 minutes, 56.89 seconds) and Stephanie Gabert (in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:05.49) each earned All-American automatic recognition with their times.

Shue and Gabert had All-American consideration times in the 200 freestyle (1:53.88) and 200 individual medley (2:07.72) respectively. The 400 relay team of Tumua Anae, Ashley Chandler, Shue and Gabert earned All-American consideration with a time of 3:36.64.

There were 15 CIF Southern Section Division II automatic bids and 10 considerations for the Sea Kings (7-1, 4-0 in league).

“When you see that level of competition, it will pull our girls,” Volding said.

The dual meet pitted the top team in Division I in the Diablos (6-0-1, 3-0 in league) and the top team in Division II in Corona del Mar. Each team was runner-up for the section title last year.

“They are the top team in the county and we threw all we had at them,” Volding said.

The Sea Kings were 4-1 in races decided by a second or less. The closest race ? the 400 relay, which the Sea Kings won by a margin of .07 seconds ? came after it was known Mission Viejo would be the victor of the meet.

“They did not quit and it showed in that last relay,” Volding said. “We’re throwing our four best guns out there and they didn’t quit. We fought until the end.”

Chandler, a senior, won the 50 and 100 freestyle, the latter in a personal best time of 53.31, less than a second ahead of Mission Viejo’s Alison Godbe.

Shue stretched out at the end of the 200 freestyle to take the race by less than half a second.

Excitement over the meet had been building since it was announced prior to the season and came to a head the day of the meet.

“The whole day, I’ve been thinking about Mission Viejo,” said Gabert, a junior. “This is the biggest meet this year.”

Mission Viejo’s depth was a significant factor, overwhelming the fact Corona del Mar won 7 of 11 races.

Corona del Mar boys’ Coach Barry O’Dea said, after a 107-63 defeat, the Sea Kings (1-5-1, 1-2 in league) continue to progress. Yutaro Yamishata earned CIF automatic bids in the 500 free (4:52.54) and the 100 fly (54.18).

The Sea Kings also earned six CIF consideration times.

“It says that they’re working hard. They are competing,” said O’Dea, the boys’ water polo coach. “We beat [Mission Viejo] in polo, so we’re 1-1.”