This afternoon, five of BOHS’s top girl swimmers will race for spots in CIF finals, and for a chance to make school history.
Girls’ swim competes at 4 p.m. today at the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section Qualifiers at Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) in Walnut.
Rylee Szary (‘26), Zoey Szary (‘28), Kylie Van Duyne (‘25), and Christina Pai (‘25) will swim in the 200-meter freestyle relay, an event they won at the Freeway League Finals at El Dorado High School May 2.
“Everyone in our relay really wants to win,” Van Duyne said, “so we push each other to be better in races.”
Racing in the 400-meter freestyle relay, after finishing in first place at league finals, are Ava Ro (‘25), Rylee and Zoey Szary, and Pai.
Ro also qualified individually for the 100-meter backstroke with a time of 1:02:98 at league finals. Ro finished in second place, just one second off first place.
“As a senior I’m super excited to swim in CIF,” Ro said. “I’ve worked really hard [and] my hard work is paying off.”
Rylee Szary earned her spot with a 55.71 in the 100-meter freestyle, and a 2:01:96 in the 200-meter freestyle, at league finals.
Pai will compete in the 50- and 100-meter freestyles after qualifying with times of 23.92 and 52.73, respectively, during the Mt. SAC Spring High School Meet of Champions April 12.
But the five girls aren’t just competing to advance to CIF Finals at Mt. SAC May 9, they’re striving to make BOHS history, and in Pai’s case, to make history again.
Head coach Gil Rotblum anticipates that four school records will be broken: Pai in the 100-meter freestyle (her best time is .04 seconds away from the school record); Pai in the 50-freestyle; the 200-meter freestyle relay team of Pai, Van Duyne, and Zoey and Rylee Szary (four seconds off the record); and the 400-meter freestyle relay team of Pai, Sophie Chappell (‘27), Rylee Szary, and Ro (seven seconds off).
“I think both relays have an outside shot,” Rotblum said. “All four girls must do their lifetime best in order to break the school record.”
Rotblum’s confidence stems from coaching a season that has been punctuated by broken records.
At the Meet of Champions, team captain Pai twice set a new school record in the 50-meter freestyle. Pai first broke the six-year old record of 24.22 held by Liza Parahnevich (’19) with a time of 24.19 in prelims. The very next day, Pai broke her own record with a 23.92 in finals.
The final chance for the girls’ swim team to earn consideration times for CIF was in Freeway League Prelims and Finals, held at El Dorado High School May 2.
Last year, BOHS was part of the Century League — consisting of Canyon, Esperanza, and Foothill high schools — and finished 0-3. This year, however, the Wildcats, in their new league — consisting of Cypress, El Dorado, Crean Lutheran, and Sunny Hills high schools — had a 3-1 record, finishing second behind Sunny Hills.
At the Freeway League finals, both of the girls’ 200-meter and 400-meter freestyle relays finished first and earned CIF consideration times. In the 400-meter relay, Ro, Chappell, Rylee Szary, and Pai raced to 3:36.21, earning the Wildcats 40 points. Rylee and Zoey Szary, Van Duyne, and Pai swam a 1:44.96 in the 200-meter race, adding another 40 points to BOHS’s score.
Pai was named Swimmer of the Meet after placing first in the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 53.25, and first in the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 24.21. (When Pai was announced as the first place finisher in the 50-meter free, she didn’t realize she had won. “I couldn’t hear what my name was being called for, but I saw my teammates and coaches cheering for me and I eventually found out why my name was called,” Pai said.)
Today, the girls will race for records and a chance to advance to the CIF Southern Section Finals.
“We’ve been training all season for this one race,” Rylee Szary said. “I’m confident our hard work will be showcased in our performance.”
