Junior Byron Sanborn swims during the 100-yard breaststroke. He was unable to repeat as CCS champion and finished third.
– Ken Wattana
A strong all-around performance powered the Palo Alto High School boys’ swim team to a surprising second place finish at the Central Coast Section Swimming and Diving Championships today at the George F. Haines International Swim Center in Santa Clara.
Despite not winning a single event, good finishes in individual events and relays gained Paly valuable points that helped the Vikings continue their postseason success, adding a CCS trophy to its Santa Clara Valley Athletic League title. The unexpected finish matches Paly’s best result at CCS and signals the Vikings return to the top echelon of competition. Their latest second place finish came 2005.
The Vikings got stellar individual performances from senior Arseniy Kotov, junior Byron Sanborn and freshmen Andrew Liang and Willy Lee as well as solid finishes in the relays in a complete team performance.
Diving got Paly off to a good start, with sophomore Cole Plambeck taking fourth with 479.20 points, senior Jordan Zenger taking eight with 372.00 and sophomore Alex Francis placing tenth with 340.05.
In the first swimming event of the day the Vikings got a fourth place finish in the 200-yard medley relay with Lee, Sanborn, senior D.J. Fotsch and Kotov combining to finish in 1:36.46, just off the school record of 1:35.42.
Sanborn then returned to take third in the 200-yard individual medley in 1:50.55, while Lee placed fourteenth in 1:58.40.
Liang, who has had a breakout freshman year, took third in the 50-yard freestyle with a fast time of 21.30, lowering his school record that he set in qualifying. He was the only underclassman to make finals and will be a favorite for the title next year. Liang then took fifth in the 100-yard butterfly in 50.51, not far off the Paly record of 50.01.
Kotov placed sixteenth in the 100-yard freestyle in 48.73.
The 200-yard freestyle relay of Liang, junior Rollin Lau, Lee and Kotov placed sixth in 1:27.36, a little bit quicker than their qualifying mark.
In his specialty event, the 100-yard backstroke, Lee used his strong underwaters to place ninth in 51.88.
The race of the day was the 100-yard breaststroke, with Sanborn looking to defend his CCS title. He swam a personal best in qualifying with a time of 56.47, more than half a second faster than the rest of the field, but he couldn’t quite recapture the magic in finals. With the crowd on its feet, Sanborn went 56.88, good for third place in one of the fastest breaststroke finals in recent years. His qualifying time would have won him the title.
In the final event of the meet, Sanborn, Liang, Kotov, and sophomore Eren Kiris brought home a fourth place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:10.32. It was yet another solid finish that gave Paly big points.
Head coach Danny Dye was pleased with the result, coming into the meet he was hoping the Vikings would crack the top three.
“The boys did a great job,” Dye said. “Second place is a phenomenal finish at CCS.”
Even though Paly didn’t win an event, Dye credits the success to a complete all-around performance.
“It’s just balance,” Dye said. “the guys came in hyped up and went after it and they wanted to do well. I think it was the relays helped out a lot and diving helped out a lot. Diving was a big part of it. I was happy with the way the guys swam across the board.”
The Vikings scored 192 points, trailing only powerhouse Bellarmine College Preparatory who won its record 27th straight championship.
A second place finish was unexpected of the young Vikings, who placed 6th and 7th in the last two years. Paly will lose Kotov and Fotsch to graduation, but will return a formidable roster with Sanborn, Liang, and Lee leading the way. The future looks bright for the Vikings, with the youth movement making Palo Alto the team to watch in the coming years.
Editor’s note: Ken Wattana is a member of the Palo Alto swim team.