The jump from one division to another didn’t faze the San Marino High boys’ swimming team at CIF Southern Section Swimming & Diving Championships at Mt. San Antonio College on May 4.
Competing in a talented pool of Division I swimmers, Titans senior Daniel Li didn’t skip a beat.
In another record-breaking performance, Li captured the boys’ Division I 100-yard breaststroke CIF crown in 53.05 seconds as San Marino finished seventh overall in the team standings.
The senior, set to swim for Stanford, previously broke the Division II record in the 100 breaststroke in 2023, finishing the race in 52.43. The Division II record was still intact following this weekend’s events.
The Titans boys’ team finished seventh overall with 110 points. Santa Margarita won the division title with 382 points, while Loyola earned 345 and Northwood 281, finishing second and third, respectively.
Li also came away with a runner-up time of 1:46.29 in the 200 individual medley, finishing behind champion Santa Margarita senior Daniel Verdolaga with a winning time of 1:46.07.
The Titans senior was also part of two relay teams competing at the finals. He partnered with sophomore Liam Thomas, junior Mark O’Mara and senior Harrison Summers in the 400 freestyle relay race and placed eighth a state-qualifying time of 3:08.45.
The quartet also raced in the 200-medley relay, finishing fifth with a time of 1:33.37.
In other individual efforts, O’Mara came in 16th in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:38.89, while Summers was 17th in the 100 butterfly clocking in 51.29.
Meanwhile, the Titans girls’ team competed in the Division II finals.
The San Marino 200 relay team of freshman Sirui Gong, junior Leah Dean and seniors Kiana Li and Maya Borkar placed 14th with a time of 1:55.27.
Kiana Li, a Pitzer College commit, competed in two other individual events. The senior placed 10th in the 100 breastroke in 1:06.90 and finished 16th in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:12.27.
Dean was the other individual swimmer, finishing 11th in the 100 backstroke in a time of 1:01.46.
The CIF State Swimming & Diving Championships will be held at the Clovis Olympic Swim Complex at Clovis West High School on Thursday, May 9 through Saturday, May 11. The diving finals are slated for May 9, while prelims and finals are scheduled for the following days. The Swimming and Paralympic Finals begin Saturday at 10:30 a.m.
First published in the May 9 issue of the San Marino Tribune
