By Ed Piper
El Cajon was blazing at 9:30 a.m. Sat., May 10, when I pulled into the dirt lot at Granite Hills High School for La Jolla's involvement in the CIF swim finals. So were the times recorded.
I finally got into the deck area at 9:40, with the announcer's familiar cadence and stream of information about swimmers, their lanes, their times booming from the P.A. system into the enclosed pool area. Reports say it was 95 degrees at 9 a.m.
Senior Will Quesnell, carrot-topped sprinter, ended his successful high school career for the Vikings and Coach Tom Atwell with a second place in the 50-meter freestyle, up-and-back. His time was 22.27 seconds.
It's over before you can locate his lane (lane 4), so you better identify the orange cone with the "4" on it and get into position quickly among the crowded swimmers, coaches, and other enthusiasts on the west side of the pool to get a photo.
Quesnell, the son of the school's athletic director, also garnered a sixth place in the 100-meter freestyle. He had two more events to compete in on the day.
"Temperatures rising" was the theme, as the thermometer hit 97 degrees hours at noon (an hour after I left).
Said Atwell in response to my greeting, "He (Will) was right in there."
Viking swimmer Astrid Egan also stood out in the early races, placing third in her 50-meter freestyle race. He time in lane 5 was 24.28, according to the scoreboard.
One thing about gaining statistics in the swim world is that if you don't have an "in", you're pretty much out of luck. I've attended the CIF Finals at Granite Hills two years in a row, and my only source for official info is the times posted right after each race on the scoreboard above the pool.
Other sports allow you to consult apps (track and wrestling) for results. Softball, baseball, volleyball, and several others all make their information readily available the public. Not so, swimming.
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