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Calvary Chapel swimmer Bianca Nwaizu sets CIF Division 3 record in breaststroke

May 8, 2025

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WALNUT — Bianca Nwaizu understandably felt intimated last summer as a 14-year-old swimming at the U.S. Olympic Trials, a meet known to rattle even the most experienced racers.

Not only did Nwaizu expend months of energy in qualifying for Trials in her final summer attempt, she found herself on the same pool deck with several stars of the sport such as sisters Alex and Gretchen Walsh.

“These people I see on TV, and I’m just here,” Nwaizu recalled. “I went in and I was just kind of like ‘I don’t belong here. I don’t deserve to be here.’ (I learned) you need to go in with confidence and know exactly what you (need) to do. (The experience) really helped me a lot.”

Nwaizu displayed her growth Wednesday at the CIF-SS Division 3 swimming preliminaries at Mt. SAC.

The Calvary Chapel sophomore blazed to the Division 3 record in the 100-yard breaststroke and qualified first in the 100 butterfly to highlight the session for Orange County.

Nwaizu rocketed off her starting block in the breaststroke and quickly reached a high tempo. The reigning CIF State champion stopped the clock in 1 minute, 0.44 to break the 2014 Division 3 standard of former Crean Lutheran and Stanford star Ella Eastin by more than a second.

Nwaizu also added the Division 3 record to a resume that includes her Division 4 record from last season.

“I wanted to go 59 (seconds) but I’ll just take it,” said Nwaizu, who posted the fastest in Orange County this season.

Only one Orange County girl has ever broken 59 seconds in a high school 100 breaststroke, and that’s county-record holder Teagan O’Dell of Santa Margarita (59.73 in 2023).

Nwaizu continued her ascent in December by breaking the barrier with a 59.73 — the same time as O’Dell’s O.C. record — at the Speedo Winter Junior Championship West with the Irvine Novaquatics club.

She’ll take aim at the 59 seconds at Friday’s 10 a.m. finals.

“At Junior Nationals, I was locked in,” she said. “I just need to lock in again.”

Nwaizu qualified first in the 100 butterfly with a lifetime-best 55.91, almost 2 1/2 seconds ahead of No. 2 seed and freshman Cassandra Espinoza of Sonora.

Nwaizu also helped Calvary Chapel’s 200 medley relay qualify fourth (1:56.42) behind Crean Lutheran (1:54.43), El Toro (1:55.48) an Sonora (1:44.60).

The relay will be a new high school experience for Nwaizu, who raced by herself at CIF last season at Liberty Christian.

“I haven’t done a high school relay before,” she said excitedly.

Sonora senior Mayu Yager also qualified first in two events. She clocked the top times in the 200 IM (2:07.68) and 500 free (5:00.32).

Orange County also has a swimmer to watch in the boys breaststroke finals. El Modena junior Barron Murdock qualified second to South Torrance’s Adriel Sun with a time of 58.61. Sun earned the top seed with a 57.92.

The 6-foot-3 Murdock is a former water polo player who is focusing on swimming and training with the SOCAL club. He recently set the school record with a 57.56 in the prelims of the North Hills League finals.

“I’ve found a lot of enjoyment in swim,” Murdock said. “It helps me feel better about myself.”

CIF STATE DIVING QUALIFER

Five O.C. boys and three county girls qualified Tuesday for the CIF State championships next week in Fresno.

Capistrano Valley Christian’s Grant Schneider won the section’s state qualifying meet at Mt. SAC with a score of 334.80. The Stanford-bound senior is the defending state champion.

Schneider outdistanced runner-up Chase Shipp of Laguna Beach (330.45), third-place finisher Valentino Nieto of Santa Margarita (310.60), fourth-place Braeden Valenzuela of San Juan Hills (309.05) and sixth-place Johnathon Reidel of Capistrano Valley (272.90).

Orange County’s girls qualifiers for state were third-place finisher Allison McNichols of Edison (269.10), fifth-place Corinna Ruffini of Newport Harbor (264.70) and sixth-place Violet Carone of Newport Harbor (262.75).

San Dimas’ Jacqueline Chen won the qualifier in 288.10.

DIVISION 4 PRELIMS

Valencia’s girls 200 free relay and Fairmont Prep’s Yves Pan helped pace the Division 4 prelims on Tuesday.

The Tigers’ sprint relay qualified first with a time of 1:48.81 while Pan claimed the top seed in the boy 500 free with a 4:46.88.

In Thursday’s 4 p.m. finals, Pan, a junior, could duel against Anaheim Discovery Christian’s Bo Zheng (4:50.78) and Pacifica Christian’s Ryan Ham (4:54.20) in the finals.

Orange County Register

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Calvary Chapel swimmer Bianca Nwaizu sets CIF Division 3 record in breaststroke

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