One Swail of a performance

This time, players from the UC Irvine women’s water polo players

cheered on their coach. At the 26th Annual Kring & Chung Newport

Beach Triathlon, the Anteaters’ coach was the one who was competing.

Julie Swail, the coach of the ‘Eaters, won the Female Elite

division in 1:03.23 in the Newport Beach Triathlon Sunday. The

proceeds of the event benefited the UCI women’s water polo team and

the UCI rowing programs. Swail’s water polo players were volunteers

at the event, yet none of them competed, as their coach did.

“They felt they weren’t ready for that yet,” Swail said. “I think

they enjoyed watching it. I suspect a few of them will give it a try

at some point in the future.”

The Newport Beach Triathlon consisted of a half-mile swim in the

Back Bay, a 13-mile bicycle ride through Newport Beach and Irvine and

a three-mile run alongside the Back Bay. Swail finished the swim

portion in 8:52, the bike in 34:17 and the run in 17:50.

She did all that without her usual training. She has not been

training as she normally does because her focus has been on the UCI

women’s water polo team for the past four months. She said she was

using the Newport Beach Triathlon as sort of a test to find out what

she needs to work on in her upcoming training.

Since 2000, Swail has been competing in triathlons. She has won 16

triathlons. Last year, Swail finished second in the Newport Beach

Triathlon. Michele Jones, who was out with a injured foot Sunday, won

the event last year.

“I’m sure we’ll meet up in another race some time this summer,”

Swail said.

Swail is no stranger to winning. She was the captain of the United

States national team that brought home a silver medal at the 2000

Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

*

Swail’s water polo team finished this season with a No. 14

ranking, just like last year, and it will return 15 from this year’s

squad, including Erica Horman, who will be a senior. The Anteaters

finished 20-21, which included an upset of No. 9 San Jose State in

the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament.

*

Katherine Belden, a former standout at Newport Harbor, enjoyed a

taste of winning a NCAA championship. The UCLA women’s water polo

team, which includes Belden, won the NCAA title, after a 4-3 victory

over Stanford May 11. The Bruins defeated Loyola Marymount, 8-2, in

the semifinals. Niesha Hoagland, who was also on OCC’s 2001 state

championship team, scored a goal for the Lions.

*

Jimmy Pelzel, the star outside hitter for UCI, is featured in this

week’s Sports Illustrated. He is in the Faces In The Crowd segment

and is recognized because he was ranked second in the nation in

points (6.37) and fourth in kills (5.16) per game. Pelzel was also

named first-team All-America and he set a school single-season record

for kills (593).

Yet, perhaps the most important fact that has everyone in

Anteaterland smiling, is Pelzel will be back next season for his

senior year.