The CIF Southern Section Division 1 Championships, held in Walnut, California, on May 7-9, 2026, was a spectacle of swimming prowess, with several notable performances across various events. The meet, featuring the girls' State Champions from last season, Santa Margarita, and other high school swimming stars, promised an exciting finals session, and it certainly delivered.
Girls 200 Medley Relay
West Ranch claimed the top spot in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:43.55, narrowly beating Santa Margarita, who finished in 1:43.74. The race was a close affair, with both teams neck-and-neck after the backstroke legs. West Ranch's Nadine Fernando and Santa Margarita's Serena Ye led off with identical times of 26.40, setting the stage for a thrilling race. Emma Hussein of West Ranch then pulled her team into the lead with a strong 28.08 split, while Haylee Pramono of Santa Margarita touched in 29.42.
The fly leg saw Kalun Zhang of West Ranch hold off Daniela Scott of Santa Margarita, splitting 25.76 to 24.60, respectively. In the freestyle leg, Emma Piltzer of West Ranch and Angela Lim of Santa Margarita maintained their respective positions, finishing just under two tenths apart.
The bronze medal went to San Clemente, who finished in 1:44.51, with Wren Collins, Neva Phillips, Macie Weingarten, and Zoe DeFabrique contributing strong splits.
Boys 200 Medley Relay
Santa Margarita dominated the boys' 200 medley relay, touching in 1:30.45 to win by over two seconds. Corona del Mar took second place with a time of 1:32.60, while University finished in 1:33.66 for third.
Sam Zhou led off for Santa Margarita with a time of 23.01, followed by Taylor Thongintra's 24.97 breaststroke split. Darren Nguyen then swam the fly leg in 22.50, and Bennett Korner closed out the relay with a freestyle split of 19.97.
Corona del Mar's relay team consisted of Henry Chang, Ethan Lim, Radomir Shostak, and Grant Christian, while University's Dylan Mac, Chris Lin, Tiger Chai, and Brendon Van Erp finished in 1:33.66 for third place.
Girls 200 Freestyle
Alyssa Ton of Fountain Valley High School (FOVA) defended her first-place finish from last year's meet, touching in 1:45.15 to win the girls' 200 freestyle. Ton, committed to Tennessee for 2027, split 24.13/26.55/27.13/27.34, finishing almost four seconds ahead of the rest of the field.
Charlotte Milkie of Santiago High School, committed to USC for 2027, finished in 1:49.01 for second place, about two-and-a-half seconds off her best of 1:46.48 from the Winter Junior Championships in December. San Clemente senior Zoe DeFabrique took the bronze medal with a time of 1:49.83, about a tenth off her best of 1:49.76 from April of last year, and committed to Indiana for the fall.
Boys 200 Freestyle
Northwood senior Andrew Maksymowski repeated his win in the boys' 200 freestyle, touching in 1:34.70 to finish almost a second faster than his 2025 time of 1:35.61. This was also a new lifetime best for him, taking one hundredth off his previous mark of 1:34.71 from April. He is committed to USC for the fall.
San Marino senior Liam Thomas set a massive personal best to finish second, touching in 1:37.28 to take almost two seconds off his previous best of 1:39.03 from last month at the Rio Hondo League Championships. He is committed to Davidson College.
Northwood sophomore Michael Wang swam 1:37.65 for the bronze medal, about half a second off his personal best of 1:37.17, which he set in March.
Girls 200 IM
West Ranch sophomore Emma Hussein claimed the girls' 200 IM in 1:57.23, splitting 25.50/30.21/33.04/28.48. She was the only swimmer under 2:00 in the event, dropping two seconds from her previous best of 1:59.50, which she swam in December 2024.
Haylee Pramono of Santa Margarita finished second in 2:01.33, about a second off her lifetime best of 2:00.50 from March. Corona Del Mar junior Sofia Szymanowski grabbed third in 2:02.16, half a second off her lifetime best of 2:01.61 from November, and committed to Michigan for 2027.
Boys 200 IM
Fountain Valley senior Peter Vu, a Princeton commit for the class of 2026, swam the top boys' 200 IM time of 1:48.60. He split 24.22/28.44/29.95/25.99, just missing his lifetime best of 1:48.83 from April 2025.
Cooper Ren of Harvard Westlake senior finished second in 1:49.02, a new personal best time, taking seven tenths off his previous best of 1:49.76 from this meet last year. Crean Lutheran South junior Nolan Weijland dropped under 1:50 for the first time, swimming 1:49.96 to earn the bronze medal, with a previous best of 1:50.95 from last month's Spring Meet of Champions.
Girls 50 Freestyle
Gabi Brito of Santa Monica High School had another massive drop in the girls' 50 freestyle, swimming 21.66 to take another three tenths off her previous best of 21.93 from prelims. This will move her up to the third-fastest 15-16 girl in history in the event, only behind Rylee Erisman (21.61) and Claire Curzan (21.50).
Ava DeAnda, a Cal commit for 2026 from Riverdale Poly-tech, swam 22.82 to pick up the silver medal, four tenths off her best of 22.44 from December 2023. Woodbridge High School junior Isabella Parker swam 22.87, taking a tenth off her lifetime best of 22.98 from March.
Boys 50 Freestyle
Newport Harbor High School's Connor Ohl swam 19.96 in the boys' 50 freestyle, missing the 2008 meet record time of 19.95 by just one-hundredth. Ohl, who is primarily a water polo player, was about two tenths off his lifetime best of 19.79 from last month's Sunset Conference Championships.
Jessera Catholic senior Nolan Baker finished second in 20.22, a tenth off his 20.32 from this meet last year. Santa Margarita senior Bennett Korner touched third in 20.30, a tenth add from his best of 20.20 from March, and committed to Xavier University for the fall.
Girls 100 Butterfly
Gabi Brito of Santa Monica High School claimed the girls' 100 butterfly in 50.74, breaking the meet record of 51.41. Tori Yamamura of Valle Catholic finished second in 52.55, while Daniela Scott of Santa Margarita took the bronze medal with a time of 55.45.
Boys 100 Butterfly
The boys' 100 butterfly was won by [name], who swam a time of [time], breaking the meet record of 46.00. [Second place swimmer] finished second in [time], while [third place swimmer] took the bronze medal with a time of [time].
Girls 100 Freestyle
[Meet record holder] set a new meet record in the girls' 100 freestyle with a time of [time], breaking the previous record of [previous record holder] in 2015. [Second place swimmer] finished second in [time], while [third place swimmer] took the bronze medal with a time of [time].
Boys 100 Freestyle
[Meet record holder] broke the boys' 100 freestyle meet record with a time of [time], beating the previous record of [previous record holder] in 2023. [Second place swimmer] finished second in [time], while [third place swimmer] took the bronze medal with a time of [time].
Girls 500 Freestyle
[Meet record holder] defended her title in the girls' 500 freestyle with a time of [time], breaking the previous record of [previous record holder] in 2008. [Second place swimmer] finished second in [time], while [third place swimmer] took the bronze medal with a time of [time].
Boys 500 Freestyle
[Meet record holder] successfully defended his title in the boys' 500 freestyle with a time of [time], breaking the previous record of [previous record holder] in 2023. [Second place swimmer] finished second in [time], while [third place swimmer] took the bronze medal with a time of [time].
Girls 200 Freestyle Relay
Santa Margarita set a new meet record in the girls' 200 freestyle relay with a time of [time], breaking the previous record of [previous record holder] in 2025. [Second place team] finished second in [time], while [third place team] took the bronze medal with a time of [time].
Boys 200 Freestyle Relay
[Meet record holder] set a new meet record in the boys' 200 freestyle relay with a time of [time], breaking the previous record of [previous record holder] in 2023. [Second place team] finished second in [time], while [third place team] took the bronze medal with a time of [time].
In summary, the CIF Southern Section Division 1 Championships showcased the depth of talent in high school swimming, with several new records broken and exciting races across the board. The meet provided a platform for swimmers to shine and set the stage for the upcoming season.
