LAMORINDA WEEKLY | Shark Attack


After the Girls 9-10 50-yard Breaststroke, Ginny Vazquez-Azpiri of OCC celebrates with Natalie Ung of Orinda Park. Photos Gint Federas

The Orinda Moraga Pool Association's Annual Championship Swim Meet is a unique place where sharks, piranhas, and stingrays can swim together in one body of water. For the 58th year, OMPA swim clubs gathered to compete for a team title. This year, nine clubs braved the infested waters at Soda Aquatic Center. Powerhouse Orinda Country Club's Sharks claimed their 14th straight championship title at the meet held Aug. 8-10.

Friday night featured the finals of the Individual Medley races. OCC started off the meet strong and collected two new meet records behind Ginny Vazquez-Azpiri, 10, and Sophia Kosturos, 13. The energy at the beginning of the weekend was electrifying, and something meet director Lucy Dendinger called "incalculable."

"Every splash in the pool was met with cheers from thousands of parents, friends, and teammates," Dendinger explained.

The support for these swimmers starts before the meet. Like many swimmers last weekend, Max Murphy, 15, of Sleepy Hollow, cut time from his IM race.

"I've done well in my OMPA career because since the beginning, my coach Matt Ehrenberger has believed in me and pushed me to make the most of my swimming ability," said Murphy, who improved on his pre-swim ranking of 13th to a final ranking of sixth.

On Saturday, there were more exciting swims in freestyle, breastroke, and the medley relays. The highlight of the day belonged to Meadow's 13-14 boys' medley relay team, who broke the OMPA record by two seconds.

Meadow coach Connor Byrne has seen over 15 OMPA championship meets and was still astonished at Saturday's races. "The swims, especially freestyle, were among the fastest they've ever been. The field is deep and there are kids of all ages and clubs who are having phenomenal races," said Byrne.

After two days of racing, Sunday's races played a deciding role in the awards, and OCC swam fast to take top honors. The backstroke, butterfly, and free relays events took place on what was surely the most exciting day of swimming.

The high point winner of the 15-18 boys' category came down to the 50-yard butterfly. Jordan Hoover, 16, of Moraga Country Club, Henry Baer, 17, of OCC, and Scott Zurnacian, 16, of Campolindo Cabana Club were all battling for the award. In the end, Zurnacian won and was given the honor of the best individual 15-18 boys' swimmer.

While many swimmers were tense and nervous throughout the weekend, Sean Cunningham, 6, of Meadow reminded us what OMPA is really about: fun.

"Swimming with my friends was definitely my favorite part of this weekend!" said Sean.

Results:

1. Orinda Country Club 4,170.5

2. Sleepy Hollow 3,354

3. Orinda Park 2,734

4. Moraga Country Club 2,722.5

5. Meadow 2,703.5

6. Moraga Valley 1,822

7. Moraga Ranch 1,720.5

8. Miramonte 1,356

9. Campolindo Cabana 1,069

High Point Winners:

6 & Under: Girls: Natalie Mak, Miramonte, 48 points

Boys: Charlie Hwang, OCC, 48 points

7-8: Girls: Natalie Aiken, Sleepy Hollow, 72 points,

Boys: Bronsen Trunzo, Miramonte, 72 points

9-10: Girls: Ginny Vazquez-Azpiri, OCC, 72 points

Boys: Will Fuller, Moraga Valley, 68 points

11-12: Girls: Eloise Engs, OCC, 72 points

Boys: Anthony Bradley, Sleepy Hollow, 72 points

13-14: Girls: Sophia Kosturos, OCC, 72 points

Boys: Sam Ayers, Meadow, 66 points

15-18: Girls: Tori Yee, OCC, 72 points

Boys: Scott Zurnacian, Campolindo Cabana, 69 points

Heidary Sportsmanship Award: Orinda Park Pool

Records:

Ginny Vazquez-Azpiri, Girls 9-10, 100 IM, 1:07.99 (previous record

1:08.55) and 50 Breast, 34.05 (previous record 35.09)

Sophia Kosturos, Girls 13-14, 100 IM, 59.43 (previous record 1:01.56),

and 50 Free, 24.11 (previous record 24.58) and 50 Fly, 25.84

(previous record 26.82)

Katrina Drake, Girls 13-14, 50 Back, 27.52 (previous record 28.34)

Anthony Bradley, Boys 11-12, 50 Fly, 27.56 (previous record 27.56)

Relay Records:

Sleepy Hollow, Girls 7-8, 100 Medley, 1:06.82 (previous record 1:09)

Swimmers: Mollie Appl, Maren McDonald, Natalie Aiken, London Menard

Orinda Country Club, Girls 13-14, 200 Medley 1:53.44 (previous record 1:54.27)

Swimmers: Charlotte Wu, Kathy Larsen, Katrina Drake, Sophia Kosturos

Orinda Country Club, Girls 13-17, 200 Free, 1:24.34 (previous record 1:42.74)

Swimmers: Katrina Drake, Katie Lyons, Ryan Hagglund, Sophia Kosturos

Meadow, Boys 13-14, 200 Medley, 1:44.07 (previous record 1:46.101) and 200 Free 1:31.52 (previous record 1:32.78)

Swimmers: Samuel Ayers, Michael Dakis, Max Younger, Eli O'Brien

Sleepy Hollow, Boys 11-12, 200 Free, 1:43.74 (previous record 1:46.12)

Swimmers: Grayson Meckfessel, Anthony Bradley, Dominic Bradley, Jackson Oxner