Below is the video of one of the best high school swimming races you’ll ever see. Redlands’ Joey Hale edges Yucaipa’s Karl Krug for the Division I title in the 50 -yard free and they become the first pair to break 20 seconds in the same race. Great call once again by veteran swim announcer John Kulisich of Villa Park. He always comes up with the big energy at just the right time. He did the same thing with Jessica Hardy a few years ago.

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Saying that they earned this title — Mission Viejo’s girls took care of No. 2 Edison, 253-219.5, to claim their third consecutive title.

Neat moment at the end. The Diablos got their title plaque from assistant section commissioner Kristine Palle, who guided Mission Viejo to titles in 2006 and 2007. Coach Jeff Boss did a very good job with the Lady Diablos this year.

Cindy Tran of Edison took the backstroke in a 53.61 and Melissa Bates of Mater Dei took the breaststroke 1:01.60 — both county records.

Edison’s Tom Shields missed the NAG record in the fly but he crushed his Division I record with a quick 47.57 –the top reported time in the nation this year. Shields also owns the No. 1 in the 200 free. Oh, no Masters for Shields — back to training.

FV’s Cynthia Fascella took the 50 in 23.08 — Bates touched second in 23.53. Edison’s Cindy Tran won the consolation in 23.47.

In arguably the fastest 50-yard freestyle race in high school history, Redlands Joey Hale touched out Yucaipa’s Karl Krug by three one-hundredths of a second with a blistering 19.95. Krug touched in an amazing 19.98. The pool was electric with energy — as much as I can remember since my first here at this meet: 1994. The crowd really loved that race.

Shields touched in 1:36.52 — missing the 15-16 national age-group record by about two-tenths of a second. Still a great time for the junior. Interestingly, Shields did not don a full-body suit. Maybe he’ll have it for the fly.

Jason Wilson, Orange County’s reigning county coach of the year in girls water polo, has resigned his post at Sonora to pursue a Masters degree and collegiate coaching opportunities, he said late Thursday night at the CIF-SS swim meet. Wilson guided Sonora to the CIF-SS Division VI title. This is a huge blow the Raiders. Wilson brought a lot of enthusiasm and smarts to the pool deck. And he also developed some very good players — he did a great job with Sara Olguin.

Golden West College has hired U.S. national women’s water polo assistant coach Kyle Kopp as its women’s water polo and swimming coach, according to Golden West men’s water polo coach Scott Taylor. This is a great get for the Rustler.

Here’s the list of qualifiers for Friday night’s DI swim final, which should be an epic display of speed — so don’t miss it SoCal swim fans!

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