Modesto-area swimmers converge for Southern Section Championships

The 11th annual Southern Section Swimming Championships will be held Saturday at Johansen High School’s B. Brent Bohlender Aquatics Center.

Following 7:30 a.m. warmups, the meet will get underway at 9 a.m. and last until about 4 p.m. It will feature some of the top talent in the southern half of the Sac-Joaquin Section.

The top local swimmer figures to be Gregori’s Christian Britton, who is the top seed in the 200-yard individual medley, with a time of 1 minute, 55 seconds, and is No. 2 in the 500 freestyle (4:55) behind Merced’s Josh Fleutsch (4:51).

“It’s important to win and compete as best he can; if he competes like he can, he should win,” said Gregori coach Matt Corgiat. “But the main focus is for Christian to swim his race and to see where he’s at.”

The Britton-Fleutsch battle won’t be the only one between a Gregori and Merced swimmer. Merced’s Abraham Santana, the top seed in the 100 breaststroke (1:02.25), will likely have to fend off Britton’s younger brother, freshman Andrew, the No. 2 seed with a time of 1:02.60.

“Andrew really hasn’t been challenged so far in our league meets,” said Corgiat. “This will be a great test for him getting ready for the section meet.”

The Britton brothers are seeded 1-2 in the 200 individual medley. Christian has the top time (1:55), well ahead of Andrew (2:05). Santana is the third seed in the 200 IM (2:07).

Another showdown will come in the 100 freestyle, between Fleutsch (49 seconds) and Downey’s Severin Elste (49.14). Elste is the top seed in the boys 50 free (22.47).

On the girls side, Sonora’s Sammie Slater is seeded first in the 200 freestyle (1:57.08), ahead of Buhach Colony’s Gwynne McBride (2:00.92) and Merced’s Savanah Hall (2:05.99). Slater is also the top seed in the 100 free (55.21), four-hundredths of a second in front of Merced’s Jande Monteon (55.25).

“It looks like it’s going to be a really good race,” said Sonora coach John-Jay Verheul of the 100 free. “I think it’s important for Sammie to go in and race some good competition. In a lot of the dual meets, there’s not a lot of competition for her. I’m excited to see how fast she’ll swim when someone’s really pushing her.”

Of the 16 boys and girls individual events, 10 of them feature a Merced High School swimmer as the No. 1 seed. The Bears have won the past five boys titles and three out of the last four on the girls side.

Admission is $5.

This story was originally published April 16, 2015 at 9:14 PM with the headline "Modesto-area swimmers converge for Southern Section Championships."