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WALNUT — Swimmers poured water over sun-drenched starting blocks as temperatures at the CIF-SS Division 1 championships climbed to almost 100 degrees at Mt. SAC. One swimmer grabbed a drink seconds before his race.
Staying as cool as possible became part of the strategy Saturday but there was no simmering down Santa Margarita’s Teagan O’Dell, her teammates or Northwood’s Derek Hitchens between the lane lines.
O’Dell continued to re-write Orange County aquatics history with two county records and two Division 1 marks to power the Eagles’ girls to a record-tying 11th consecutive championship.
“The G.O.A.T.” Northwood’s Andrew Maksymowski said of O’Dell, who won her seventh and eighth individual section titles and almost broke her own national record in the 200-yard individual medley.
Santa Margarita’s girls scored 418.5 points in matching the run of 11 consecutive titles by Mission Viejo’s legendary girls teams in 1970s and 1980s.
The Eagles’ boys used their depth to outdistance runner-up Northwood 321.5-265 for a fifth consecutive title. The Trinity League squad didn’t win an individual race but captured diving with Valentino Nieto.
O’Dell signaled her intentions by winning the 200 IM in a Division 1 record time of 1 minute, 53.43 seconds.
She split the first 100 yards (butterfly and backstroke) in 51.36, almost a second faster than her national record pace of 52.32. In the end, she touched five one-hundredth of a second off her 2023 national record (1:53.38).
O’Dell led off the winning 200 and 400 free relays by breaking her county records for the 50 and 100 freestyles. She blasted leadoff splits of 22.17 and 48.01, respectively.
The Cal-bound senior also touched first in the 100 backstroke in a Division 1 record 51.09.
“I actually enjoy racing in 100 degree weather,” O’Dell said. “The heat keeps my body loose and keeps me warmed up … but it definitely makes you more dehydrated so I’ve been drinking water all day.”
“I couldn’t be happier with my performances,” the three-time O.C. swimmer of the year added. “I’m just excited to roll into next week (at state) and see how much better I can do.”
Donned in neon orange-painted nails and gold earrings, O’Dell saved her most emotion for cheering teammates in the 400 relay. The relay featured sophomore Eileen Song, freshman Valentina Delgado and senior Sammy Cummins, one of O’Dell closest friends.
“She was fighting so hard,” O’Dell said of Cummins, who held off Mira Costa by about two-tenths of a second for the win in 3:21.38.
Hitchens blazed O.C. records in the 100 free (43.79) and 100 back (47.19) in claiming his first section titles. In the 100 free, the Columbia-bound racer broke the oldest county boys record, the 1994 standard of six-time Olympian Derya Buyukuncu of Woodbridge (43.85).
“I really wanted it,” Hitchens said of the mark. “(The heat) definitely (had) a really big factor … but you can only control so much.”
Maksymowski showed his grit in the 200 free relay. Not long after winning the 500 free in 4:23.91 for his second individual title, the Texas-bound senior split a 20.12 anchor to out-touch JSerra by one-hundredth of a second for the victory in 1:22.47.
JSerra earned some revenge by capturing the 400 free relay in a school-record 3:00.75.
In other highlights, Fountain Valley’s Alyssa Ton swept the 200 (1:44.12) and 500 (4:43.39) freestyles in lifetime-best times on her 16th birthday. The Barons finished third in team points. Newport Harbor’s Connor Ohl captured the 50 free in 20.04, just missing his second 19-second effort.
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