Champions Are Born At CIF-SS Swimming Championships

Preview of the 2017 CIF-Southern Section Swimming Championships at the Riverside Aquatics Complex featuring current record holders who went on to become Olympians such as Grant Shoults and Janet Evans.

May 10, 2017 by Maclin Simpson

Champions Are Born At CIF-SS Swimming Championships

It is widely known that California is a strong swimming state. But just how strong?

The CIF-Southern Section Swimming Championships are the premier high school swimming championships in the state, and this year's edition returns to Riverside, CA, on Wednesday, May 10, to Saturday, May 13. If you take a look at the record board, you will see the following names hold current records -- Grant Shoults, Anthony Ervin, Jeff Kostoff, Michael Cavic, Abbey Weitzeil, Katie McLaughlin, Kaitlin Sandeno, Jessica Hardy, Ella Eastin, and Janet Evans.

Woah...

Back in 2009 at the CIF-SS Swimming Championships, a guy by the name of Tom Shields -- you may have heard of him -- shattered the National High School Record in the men's 200 freestyle with a mind-blowing 1:33.83. That swim, which broke the all-time record of 1:34.96 from Joe Hudepohl in 1991 by over a second, was considered revolutionary at the time.

Why is his name not mentioned above with the current record-holders? Because Grant Shoults broke that record in 2016 -- at this meet -- with a new National High School Record time of 1:33.26.

Shoults also broke the 500 freestyle National High School Record in this meet, dropping a staggering 4:12.87. That swim broke Jack Conger's all-time mark of 4:13.87 from 2013. Who held the record before Conger? Jeff Kostoff. Kostoff, mentioned above, set the all-time mark in 1983 with a 4:16.39 at this meet -- a record that would go stand for 30 years. Even more, Kostoff is now Shoults' coach at Stanford. Oh how the world comes full circle...

(Of note: Kostoff competed in Division II and Shoults competed in Division I. So while Shoults holds the overall record, Kostoff is still the Division II record-holder).

"CIF is the meet that most prepared me for college and NCAAs," Shields said. "Southern Section Division I has no parallel in high school swimming. It was and remains the quintessential high school championship meet."

Shields went on to have a prolific career at Cal-Berkeley and then qualified for the 2016 U.S. Olympic team in the 100m and 200m butterfly events. Shoults, a rising sophomore at Stanford, has a promising swimming career ahead of him as well.

The same could be said about all of the current record-holders mentioned above. Most of them are Olympians and Olympic medalists. All of them have succeeded on the national stage. The moral of the story? The CIF-SS Swimming Championships have produced some insane talent.

When the action kicks off on Wednesday morning, these swimmers will have the opportunity to set themselves on a trajectory to etch their names into swimming history. What will they make of this opportunity? Stay tuned to find out.
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