Malich Has Record Night for El Dorado

LONG BEACH — Senior Brian Malich of El Dorado was crowned the fastest swimmer in the Southern Section Saturday night. Malich shattered the Division II records in the 50 and 100 freestyle events during the section finals at Belmont Plaza Pool.

His times were not only the fastest in Division II, but also the best times posted in the events in any division final this year.

“It was definitely a goal of mine going into the meet to come away with both of the records,” Malich said. “And it’s definitely exciting to be the fastest swimmer in [the Southern Section].”

His time of 45 seconds in the 100 broke his Division II record of 45.15, set last year, and his 20.52 in the 50 was .01 seconds better than the mark set by John Jenkins of La Crescenta Crescenta Valley in 1993.

His time in the 100 was also .28 faster than Division I winner Matt Burny of Mission Viejo, and his 50 time was .4 seconds faster than Burny’s winning time.

El Dorado Coach Michael Ashe praised his team, particularly Malich and Brett Benson, who finished second to Malich in the 50 freestyle.

“Benson swam out of his mind,” Ashe said. “It was a great performance both individually and from a team standpoint. But you can’t take anything away from Malich, he set a record, and he swam faster than all of the Division I people.”

Malich wasn’t limited to breaking records in individual events, as he anchored the 200 freestyle relay team in its Division II record time of 1:25.64, bettering Crescenta Valley’s mark of 1:26.75 set in 1994.

Malich then sealed the record-breaking performance by overtaking Palos Verdes Peninsula in the final 100 yards of the 400 relay to move El Dorado into second place in the team standings.

In the girls’ competition, Laguna Hills dominated to defend its section title. The Hawks began the meet with a convincing victory in the 200 medley relay (1:53.33) and held a 53-point advantage midway through the program.

Freshman Shauna Barnard placed first ahead of teammate Nicole Wieland in 200 individual medley with a time of 2:06.39, and second in the 500 freestyle in 4:58.85. The Hawks then capped the evening with a victory in the 400 freestyle (3:39.8).

Other county winners were Hiro Sakoda of Sunny Hills in the boys’ 100 butterfly (50.12), Mike Tse of Kennedy in the 100 backstroke (51.56), Steve Poling, who broke a Division II record in the 100 breaststroke (56.37), and Aliso Niguel’s Alicia Thornton in the 100 butterfly (58.47). Thornton also finished second in the 200 freestyle (1:53.68).