Between her events Saturday at the Mount Hamilton Division Championships, Michelle Mikaelsson could be found smiling.
The Live Oak senior was much more relaxed than elite swimmers are expected to be this late in the high school season. She chatted with friends, listened to dubstep and reggae on her iPod and laughed after Leland’s Thuy Phi out-touched her for second in the 200-yard individual medley final.
“That was cool, wasn’t it?” Mikaelsson said. “She came out of nowhere. Made me race faster.”
Whereas the 2010 Michelle Mikaelsson would have been thrilled to win a league title in the 100 breaststroke – which she did in dominant fashion for the second year in a row Saturday, showing her impressive pull and kick – the current version treated it like a parting gift.
“I didn’t have a clue how far ahead I was,” she said. (It was about three seconds.) “I just concentrate on swimming.”
Like her LOHS teammates Ryan McCombs and Daniel Pawlak, Mikaelsson was in her own world last weekend at Gunderson High School, racing the clock to stay on pace for a big showing in the May 11-12 Central Coast Section Championships. Mikaelsson was less than a second off a personal record in the IM (2:10.71) and the 100 breast (1:06.73) – her real victory.
“It just set me up good for a starting point to CCS,” said Mikaelsson, who last year placed seventh in the section breaststroke final and 15th in the IM consolation championship. “I think my chances are very high to do better this year. In breast, I want to get down to a 1:04, which would be a good time for me; (in the IM), maybe like a 2:07. I just need to keep working on technique.”
McCombs felt the same way after his own impressive meet that was highlighted by his second-place finish in the 200 IM in 2:03.12, a drop in almost six seconds from his preliminary heat.
“Great race, great time,” Live Oak coach Mack Haines said simply.
McCombs, a rangy junior, also took third in the 100 breast (1:02.98) and contributed to a solid 200-freestyle relay with seniors Saul Orona and Connor Haines, and Pawlak. The foursome, already bound for sectionals, clocked the fifth-fastest time (1:34.48) unofficially but was disqualified.
“Daniel and Ryan did awesome today,” Orona said.
“They’re the real swimmers,” Haines added. “We’re just water polo players that fill in when we can.”
Pawlak had arguably the best afternoon among sophomores, placing second in the 50 freestyle (22.22) and third in the 100 free (48.68). Next week, he hopes to again rise to the level of his competition in both events.
“I was right around my best (50) time,” Pawlak said. “So I’m pretty pumped going into CCS. I feel like that’ll get me into the fastest trial. And then after that, I want to make the finals. That’s been my goal all season.”
All told, the Acorns made the most of their final Mount Hamilton Division finals meet for at least a year. Mack Haines said Live Oak will “definitely move down” to the Santa Teresa Division for 2013.
Mikaelsson, the Acorns’ lone CCS qualifier on the girls side, stands a good chance of making the podium next week. She is one of four breaststrokers who reached the final as underclassmen a year ago; the top four from 2011 graduated. Mikaelsson is focused only on herself.
“I don’t concentrate on my opponents,” she said, “but I do once in a while glance at them and think, ‘Maybe I can catch up to their time as a goal to go for.’”
It’s a good approach to take. As Saturday’s IM final showed, there’s always someone lurking behind.
NOTES: Also Saturday, Live Oak placed fourth in the 200-medley relay B final with Sydney James, Savanah Trewman, Sophie Lastra and Mikaelsson; and second in the 200-free relay B final with Helen Van, Morgan Teddleton, Allegra Aguirre and Mikaelsson. Live Oak’s Morgan Kelly, David Molyneux, Kyle Muir and Nathaniel Batey took sixth in the 200-free relay B final, and Molyneux, McCombs, Pawlak and Orona scratched in the medley relay.
