Swimmers earn third consecutive top 5 finish in CCS

Coming off a momentous season, the boys’ swim team made its mark again by earning a third consecutive top-five finish, placing fifth place and emerging as the top public school at the CCS finals meet on May 21 at Santa Clara International Swim Center. Bellarmine won its 26th consecutive title.

“Our goal going in was to be the top public school,” said junior Adam Hinshaw. “We did exactly what we planned to do.”

Hinshaw was the lone champion, finishing first in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:22, less than a second away from the CCS record set in 2009 by his brother Ben, who swims for Cal. He joked that his older brother stabbed him with a lap counter during the race to prevent him from breaking the record. This standout performance at CCS completed Hinshaw’s undefeated season in the event, which also included a new league record.

“We went in and knew we had to have big days,” said Hinshaw.

Hinshaw also finished second in the 200-freestyle at 1:37. Sophomore Ian Burns finished third in both the 100-freestyle and 200-individual medley. His times were :46 and 1:50, respectively. Junior Justin Chung took fifth in the 100 backstroke, nine places better than last year, at :52.

The only relay to final was the 400-yard freestyle relay, which finished fourth with a time of 3:11. Hinshaw and Burns returned from a relay that swam a national record time of 3:00 last year. They teamed up with Chung and senior Kyle Borch for a top-five finish this year.

“I am really happy with how we swam,” said Hinshaw, “and we will be even stronger next year.”