Reid swims into the record books

The Saddleback swim and dive team participated at the Orange Empire Conference Finals on Thursday through Saturday inside the Saddleback Aquatics Center.  Sophomore Julia Reid had a performance for the ages, winning three events.

Reid was a force, winning three times to share the Swimmer-of-the-Meet award with two others from Orange Coast College.  She won her opening event on Friday in the 100 Breaststroke when she touched the pad in 1:06.84 to win by nearly 4.5 seconds.  Reid followed that up with two wins on Saturday in the 100 Individual Medley (1:01.35) and 200 Breaststroke (2:25.75).  Her time in the 200 Breaststroke was a new meet record. 

Reid's time in the 100 Breaststroke was an eyelash away from a program record set by Alison Berrien in 2009 (1:06.46).  She was also just a little shy of her own program record in the 200 Breaststroke when she swam a 2:21.09 at the state finals in 2024.  Reid is now third all-time in program history in the 100 Individual Medley and just over a second off the record set by Jennifer Cadenhead in 2000 (1:00.21). 

Reid has a chance to break all three program records when she swims at the 3C2A State Championships in Santa Rosa on May 1-3. 

Saddleback also had some nice performances turned in on the men's side from Nathan Lawson.  The sophomore from San Juan Hills High School finished in the top six in three separate events over the weekend.  Lawson opened with a sixth-place finish in the 100 Breaststroke on Friday when he hit the pad in 1:01.20.  He then finished fifth in the 100 Individual Medley on Saturday afternoon in a time of 56.00.  Lawson finished with a fourth-place finish in the 200 Breaststroke in a time of 2:13.07.