Lungs of Steel: The West Valley Swim Club finished sixth at the Pacific Age Group Championships in December, then earlier this month won the Zone 1 South championship. Among the team members are (l-r) Ben Hinshaw, 10, Matt Murray, 10, Kevin Shiuan, 13, Ryan Hinshaw, 12, Fred Hwang, 13, and Will Havercroft, 9.
West Valley swimmers take zone title
Local age group team unseats powerhouses
By Dick Sparrer
For more than 20 years it's been the same old story: The top age group swimming teams get together for the Zone 1 South Championships, and the Santa Clara Swim Club and San Jose Aquatics finish one-two.
Oh, it's been a little different through the years. Sometimes Santa Clara would finish first, and some years it would be San Jose.
But never had another swim club penetrated the top two... never, that is, until this year.
The West Valley Swim Club ended the tradition earlier this month when the local age group swimmers won the Zone 1 South Championship. The event was held at the George Haines International Swim Center in Santa Clara, named for the famed coach who took the Santa Clara Swim Club to greatness back in the 1960s.
"History was made!" said a proud Norm Havercroft, coach of the West Valley squad.
The meet went right down to the final relay of the final day of competition, and with it West Valley finished with 1,461 team points to top Santa Clara's 1,454.5 and SJAA's 1,241.
"These perennial powers have traded the championship for two decades," added Havercroft. "Both of these teams have won Far Western championships and National championships over the years."
Record-setting brothers Adam and Ben Hinshaw of Saratoga led the West Valley charge to the Zone championship.
Eight-year-old A. Hinshaw set four new meet standards to lead the West Valley showing in the boys 8-and-under division. The young swimmers set new marks in the 25-yard freestyle (14:28), 50 free (31:12), 25 backstroke (17:06) and 100 individual medley (1:20.13.)
B. Hinshaw, 10, tied a meet record in the 100 free (1:00.29) in the boys 10-and-under age group.
Swimmers scoring the most points for West Valley in the meet included:
Boys 8-and-under--A. Hinshaw (54), Erich Peske (54)
Girls 8-and-under-- Morgan Mousley (20)
Boys 10-and-under--B. Hinshaw (42), Matt Murray (37)
Girls 10-and-under--Gabby Heerema (27), Mackenzie Look (23), Lindsay Oosterhouse (24)
Boys 11-12--Alvin Wong (40), Ryan Hinshaw (19)
Girls 11-12--Sara Ellis (36)
Boys 13-14--Fred Hwang (24), Dennis Chen (17)
Girls 13-14--Emily Muniz (25), Nidhi Bhat (23)
Boys 15-16--Chris Hornberger (30)
Girls 15-16--Victoria Behrens (20), Liz Molzon (18)
Boys 17-18--Kyle Gribi (41)
Girls 17-18--Claire Koen (50)
The young swimmers have unseated the "perennial powers" in the region, which include 20 teams from as far south as Monterey, north to Santa Clara.
"To many, this seems an abrupt eruption," said Havercroft, whose team finished sixth at the rugged Pacific Age Group Championships back in December. "Those involved in the engineering know that it took years of pain, perseverance and positive attitude in the face of difficult circumstances."
West Valley is a community-based swim club that has been competing for years with home-grown swimmers from the greater Los Gatos, Campbell and Saratoga areas.
"This is a swim club that is focused, first and foremost, on the kids," said Havercroft.
Campbell, California
