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    Santa Margarita’s Darren Nguyen breaks butterfly barrier at Foothill Swim Games
    • April 18, 2026

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    SANTA ANA — Santa Margarita swimmer Darren Nguyen pursued breaking the 50-second barrier in the 100-yard butterfly with such determination, he kept track of the number of days in his chase.

    “I think’s been almost 700 days,” the senior said. “(I went) 50-flat (50.00) my sophomore year at CIF and it’s been a hard barrier to break for me.”

    So Nguyen understandably displayed a fist pump and smile Saturday after he touched in a lifetime-best 49.74 seconds to capture the 100 butterfly at the 51st Foothill Swim Games at Foothill High.

    Nguyen’s time, the fourth-fastest in Orange County this season, jolted the meet and drew cheers from his teammates. He sliced about three-quarters of a second off his prelims time of 50.51 to break 50 seconds.

    “It’s been a big goal of mine,” he said. “I’ve been stuck at the 50 barrier for a minute now. It’s good to see the training pay off, especially mid-season. I couldn’t have done it without the guys. They’re always pushing in practice and pushing me at meets.”

    “It’s just a team chemistry thing,” the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps commit added. “It’s something special here.”

    Santa Margarita sprinter Bennett Korner also raced through fatigue from training to win the 50 free in 20.97.

    The Xavier committed senior leads the county with a 20.20 but felt satisfied with his performance as he continues to prepare for CIF and state.

    “I had a really slow start, really slow turn but that’s because I don’t have fast-twitch muscle fibers that are activated right now,” Korner said. “Being able to go 20-point essentially with what feels like a push off the wall is pretty good. I’ll take it.”

    “Two more weeks of hard training and then that’s when the fun starts,” he added. “I’m excited.”

    Korner later led off the 200 free relay in a sizzling 20.28 to help the Eagles break the meet record. He combined with Adam Cuthbert, Carson Eich and Tyler Lee for a time of 1:23.31, which sank University’s 2018 mark of 1:24.90.

    Santa Margarita’s boys and girls delivered several other strong times to sweep the team titles.

    Taylor Thongintra, a junior committed to Northwestern, swept the 200 individual medley (1:52.21) and breaststroke (54.99).

    Lee, a junior, won 200 free in 1:40.91 and challenged the meet record in the 100 free with a touch of 45.97.

    On the girls side, freshman Haylee Pramono rallied to take the 200 IM (2:03.93) and claimed the breaststroke (1:03.52).

    Senior Angela Lim swept the 50 (24.17) and 100 (52.69) freestyles.

    ​ Orange County Register 

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