Huntington Beach boys' swimming ends longstanding league title drought

Huntington Beach swimmer Caden Cunningham reacts after winning the 200-yard medley in the Wave League championships.

By Anthony CiardelliSpecial Contributor

May 22, 2021 1:34 PM PT

High school swimmers packed the Ocean View High School pool Friday for the Sunset Conference swim finals, which included both the Surf League and Wave League boys’ and girls’ finals.

For the Huntington Beach boys, Friday’s Wave League finals meet will last in their memories for a lifetime. The Oilers secured 868 points to win a league title for the first time since 1938. Edison came in second with 663.5 points.

In addition, the Huntington Beach boys’ 200-yard medley relay team of Caden Cunningham, Ryder Dodd, Finneas Tas-Palcza and Chase Dodd set a meet record with a time of one minute, 32.62 seconds.

In his nine years as the Huntington Beach swim coach, Ryan Camps has taken his team from winless seasons to a league title.

“Building a program takes time and this group of boys puts in the time,” Camps said. “You’ve got good programs in the area like Edison and Mater Dei. It’s an open school district, so to build a good program takes a while. I’m really excited.”

Oilers senior Chase Dodd was a member of the record-breaking relay team and a winner of the 200 freestyle (1:38.91) and the 100 backstroke (50.28). He and his relay teammates had their sights set on the 200 medley relay record.

Ryder Dodd of Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley's Ivan Nghi, from left, compete in the boys' 100 butterfly on Friday.

“It was like a 30-year-old record,” he said. “We look up to the guys who broke that record because they are alumni, and they all have siblings or other people connected to our sport and we really wanted to beat it.”

Dodd’s relay teammates all won two individual events apiece. Cunningham took the 100 freestyle (46.15) and the 50 freestyle (21.43). Tas-Palcza won the 200-yard individual medley (1:55.65) and the 100 breaststroke (58.31), and Ryder Dodd won the 100 butterfly (49.20) and the 500 freestyle (4:35.00).

Laguna Beach took home the Wave League girls’ title by amassing 712 points, besting second-place Huntington Beach which finished with 533 points.

Individually, Jana Jocic won the 200 individual medley (2:11.18) and the 100 breaststroke, where she broke the Laguna Beach School record she set herself with a time of 1:03.89.

The Breakers and head coach Ethan Damato experienced a first of their own Friday afternoon.

“It’s our first league championship in this league,” he said. “We got second our first year, and we didn’t swim last year because of COVID. To win league is great. It’s a great accomplishment.”

Laguna Beach's Jordan Schneider swims in the girls' 500-yard freestyle in the Wave League swimming finals on Friday.

Los Alamitos swept the Surf League finals. The Griffins won the boys’ title with 928.5 points, beating out second-place Newport Harbor (552 points), while the girls won with 899.5 points, beating out Fountain Valley (643.5 points).

The Los Alamitos boys’ team has now won three consecutive league titles, and head coach Brett Dana says the Griffins’ team-first mentality leads to their success in an individual sport.

“We do a really good job of taking club swimmers and explaining to them that this isn’t about individuals,” Dana said. “The guys are really selfless. They don’t necessarily swim their best events for us. They swim what we need them to swim in order to be the best we can possibly be.”

Senior Gabe Chang and his 400 freestyle relay teammates Jack Ryan, Jake Lugehbuehl and Josh Hamamoto also broke a Surf League meet record with a time of 3:07.21.

Edison's Danny Gillissen powers through the pool for a win in the girls' 100 butterfly on Friday at Ocean View High.

“It feels incredible,” Chang said. “That was our goal the entire year to break it. We are pumped that we got it.”

On the girls’ side, Samantha Banos won the 200 individual medley (2:02.76) for Los Alamitos. Banos and her team powered through adversity to win the league after the team had to be quarantined for a positive COVID-19 test. Los Alamitos’ best swimmer Elizabeth Ramirez also left the Griffins to join the Colombian national team.

“It feels really good because we worked so hard and we overcame so much,” Banos said. “It was stressful, but I knew we could come back from it. We are such a close-knit team and we have good depth. Being able to come back and win is just super rewarding for us.”

CIF Southern Section swimming qualifiers will be posted Saturday at 3 p.m.