"We try to make the high school meets fun for them," Bridges explains. "There is not as much pressure as in USA (club competition)."

The Mustangs were having fun March 19 at the Mountain View High pool, winning seven of the 11 swimming events in an Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division meet.

Junior Amber Hovey won two individual events and swam the third leg of the victorious 400-meter freestyle relay, leading the Homestead girls to a 97-80 win. Homestead's boys team also beat Mountain View, 110-73, as senior Mat Schmidt was a double winner.

Hovey, 2003 Central Coast Section 100-meter butterfly champion, easily won her specialty against Mountain View and captured the 100 backstroke race as well. Hovey's fly time of 56.06 was nearly two seconds ahead of the runner-up. Mustang senior Catherine Kung was third.

Hovey also breezed in the backstroke race, winning in 1:00.23. Kung was second in 1:03.93. Hovey and Kung combined with sophomore Megan Meadows and junior Jackie Laird to win the 400 free relay in 3:52.47.

Freshman Michelle Camburn was a double freestyle winner, going 2:02.0 in the 200 race and 5:21.44 in the 500 event. Laird was third in the 200 and freshman Emily Pool placed third in the 500. Both of Camburn's times were good enough to qualify for the CCS meet in May.

"She is one of the better freshmen to come into our league this year," Bridges praised Camburn, who also has recorded CCS qualifying times in the 200 individual medley and 100 butterfly.

Meadows led a sweep of the 200 IM, winning in 2:27.19 and touching just ahead of teammates Jessica Lee and Pool. Lee, a senior, led a sweep of the 100 breaststroke with a CCS-qualifying mark of 1:12.0. Meadows placed second and sophomore Yoshi Zhimitzu took third.

Senior Alicia Chapman, one of the Homestead girls who competes solely at the high school level, placed third in the 50 and 100 free races, but her time of 26.02 in the shorter sprint is a CCS qualifier.

Chapman teamed with Camburn, Laird and junior Jessica Schwiesow in a fast 200 free relay. Although their time of 1:46.84 was nearly six seconds behind Mountain View's winning time, it was more than three seconds better than the CCS qualifying standard.

Homestead's boys recorded CCS qualifying times in five events, including the two that Schmidt won. Schmidt placed first against Mountain View in the 200 IM (2:01.05) and the 100 breaststroke (1:01.21).

Junior Karta Khalsa, whose time of 53.42 in the 100 fly is a qualifier, and senior Brian Bucher also won events for Homestead. Bucher won the 50 free in 23.41.

The Mustangs finished ahead of Mountain View in all three relays, topping CCS meet standards in the medley and the 400.

'Tino wins first two

Jenna Overby started her senior season with a big splash, taking part in four event victories in each of Cupertino's first two El Camino division meets.

Overby was part of three relay wins and won the 100 free individual event, as Cupertino's girls raced past Fremont 102-69 on March 19. A week earlier Overby won the freestyle sprints and helped the Pioneers in two of their relay victories during a 98-70 win against Wilcox.

The boys team also opened with a pair of wins, 89-84 at Fremont and 127-53 over Wilcox.

Senior Sarah Hovland won two events, the 50 free and 100 breast, at Fremont. Sophomore Megan Weber (100 fly) and junior Alicia Zhou (100 back) also were winners.

Zhou, Hovland, Overby and sophomore Jessica Buzawa teamed to win the medley relay. Overby led off the 200 free relay, and was followed by Weber, Buzawa and Hovland. Overby anchored the 400 relay, following Weber, Zhou and senior Katie Fischer.

Overby's freestyle victories and a win by Zhou in the backstroke were the Pioneers only individual wins against Wilcox, but they won all three relays.

Fischer, senior Karin Tanaka, Zhou and Overby took the medley. Weber and Buzawa were on both free relays. Overby and Fischer helped at 200, while senior Lauren Dykema and Zhou helped at 400.

The Cupertino boys won at Fremont, despite taking just five events.

Senior Michael Jarvis (50 free), junior Paolo Basilio (200 IM), junior Alex Donoghue (100 free) and sophomore Josh Overby (500 free) all were winners. Jarvis and Donoghue teamed with juniors Robert Frink and Craig Whyte to win the 200 free relay in a CCS qualifying time of 1:37.41.

The Pioneers won all of the events against Wilcox. Overby won freestyle events at 200 and 500 and combined with Basilio, Whyte and Frink to take the 400 relay. Jarvis took the 100 back and 100 fly and participated on two relays.

Jarvis teamed with junior Jason Yih, Basilio and Donoghue to win the medley, then joined Frink, Whyte and Donoghue to win the 200 free.

Other event winners were Yih (100 breast) , Whyte (50 free), Donoghue (100 free) and Basilio (200 IM).

Mats splash Saratoga

Junior Ben Casavant and sophomore Russ Underwood both were double winners as Monta Vista's boys team started the De Anza Division season with a 95-66 victory over Saratoga on March 12.

Nicole Ley and ShaSha Brophy both won two events and helped out on two winning relays as Monta Vista's girls topped Saratoga 108-72. Dominique Lazarovici also was a double winner for the Matadors.

Both Monta Vista teams lost on March 19 to strong Palo Alto squads. Kevin Luu won the boys 100 breast in 1:02.51 and teamed with Casavant, Underwood and Onur Erbilgin to win the 400 relay. Lazarovici recorded the only girls victories for the Matadors, taking the 200 IM in 2:14.36 and the backstroke in 1:00.13.

Lynbrook takes two

Both of Lynbrook's teams have started strong. After winning all the events in a 116-36 rout of Santa Clara, the Viking girls barely beat Los Gatos 86-84. Meanwhile the boys scored convincing wins over Santa Clara, 104-61, and Los Gatos 110-56.

Nilash Ghosh, Jessica Chen, Eileen Shu and Jenny Wei teamed to win the 400 free relay in the final event of the day to lift the Vikings to the win over Los Gatos.

Ghosh had won the 200 IM in 2:09.82 and the 100 IM in 59.75 with Wei third earlier in the meet. Chen took the 50 free in 26.65 with Wei second and won the 100 free in 59.31 with Liana Wildeboer third.

SongQian Li chipped in with a first in the 100 breast in 1:13.63 for the Vikes. Stephanie Teng was third in 1:21.85.

Allyson Fong was second in the 100 fly and Eileen Shu was third in both the 200 free and the 500 free.

Wei, Li, Ghosh and Chen opened the meet with a win in the 200 medley relay in 1:57.81.

Andrew Wu and Michael Wang won two events each to lead the Lynbrook boys to a lopsided win over Gatos.

Wu took the 200 IM in 2:08.84 with Kai Chou third, and he was first in the 100 breast with Matt Chen second and Chou third.

Wang won the 100 free in 50.48 with Andrew Tsai second, and he was first in the 50 free in 23.18 with Tsai second. Wang and Tsai joined with Barndt Robinson and Wu for a win in the 400 free relay in 3:32.11, and Robinson, Chen, Wu and Wang won the 200 medley relay in 1:47.79.

Robinson was a winner in the 100 back in 1:00.18 with Jonathan Huang third. Robinson was also second in the 100 fly with Kevin Piercy third and Huang was second in the 500 free with Ryan Brunmeier third.