Until Julien Rousseau was informed a week ago, the Del Norte High School senior didn’t realize he was close to breaking the CIF San Diego Section’s oldest boys swim record.
Now he owns it.
Rousseau recorded a preliminary time of 4 minutes, 21 seconds on Friday to sur the 500-yard freestyle record (4:21.10) set by San Marcos’ Tim Siciliano in 1998 during the state swimming championships at Clovis West High School outside Fresno.
In Saturday’s finals, Rousseau just missed the record time and placed second with a time of 4:21.23. Heading into the season, he had targeted a sub-4:20 time in the 500.
Another section record fell in the boys 200 freestyle. Point Loma sophomore Alex Pletcher finished second (1:35.63) to break the mark (1:35.69) set by Coronado’s Sam Quarles in 2023. Pletcher added a fourth-place showing in the 100 freestyle (44.19) by taking more than a second off his winning effort (45.27) in the section finals.
Also in the 200 freestyle, Rousseau finished sixth (1:38.01).
On the girls’ side, Mt. Carmel junior Catherine Rowe placed fourth (53.91) in the 100 backstroke, just missing the section mark of 53.44 that she set in the section finals.
Santa Margarita’s Teagan O’Dell established a state record (50.82) in the prelims.
In a strong debut, Granite Hills freshman Ella Morgan took third (1:49.93) in the girls 200 freestyle. Morgan also placed 15th in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:58.13. Mater Dei Catholic senior Isa Chavez-Varela finished fifth in the girls 200 individual medley with a time of 2:01.47, slightly improving her time from a third-place showing last year.
Chavez-Varela placed 11th (55.69) in the 100 butterfly.
San Marcos senior Cassidy Allison took seventh (55:30) in the 100 butterfly. As the lead swimmer in the 400 freestyle relay, Allison helped San Marcos place seventh (3:27.70) ahead of 11th-place Torrey Pines (3:30.11). Allison again teamed on the relay with senior Lauren Putnam and juniors Madison McCormick and Gabby Esposito.
Torrey Pines was unable to top the section record it set in the 200 freestyle relay (1:34.16) and 400 freestyle relay (3:26.09) during the section meet. In the 200 freestyle relay, the Falcons placed sixth with a time of 1:35.21.
Torrey Pines junior Aya Ferguson battled a late-week illness to compete in the relays.
She was seeded second in the 200 free (1:47.82) but ended up 21st with a time of 1:51.26 in the prelims.
“It can be tough coming off (the section meet),” Torrey Pines coach Richard Contreras said. “We’ll apply what we learned to next year.”
Grossmont freshman Aramis Willett tied for sixth (48.91) in the boys 100 butterfly (48.32), and Coronado junior Gage Everitt finished ninth (49.29). Canyon Crest junior Darmen Yassengeldy finished fifth in the 100 backstroke with a time of 48.73.
The meet ended a three-year streak of state champions from the section. Torrey Pines’ Logan Noguchi won the boys 100 butterfly and breaststroke last year, University City’s Katherine Hazle the girls 500 freestyle two years ago and Eastlake’s Emily Lundgren won the girls 100 breaststroke in 2022.
Santa Margarita won its sixth straight girls team title, while Irvine Northwood took the boys crown.
