SOUTH COAST SWIM CONFERENCE FINALS:

CORONA DEL MAR — A total team effort.

That’s what most would call Harbor View Swim Team’s championship performance Saturday in the South Coast Swim Conference finals. But if one looks deeper into the heart of the effort, the main reason will be found, or at least an obvious example of that teamwork vibe.

A handful swimmers of the Harbor View girls’ 15-18 division played in a club water polo tournament in Manhattan Beach on Saturday morning then went to compete in the season-ending SCSC finals at Corona del Mar High.

The results?

The Harbor View girls’ won the division title to help the Dolphins win their second straight conference crown, edging rival Newport Hills, 1,760-1,706.

“I told one of my coaches, if we win this meet it’s going to be because of the 15-18 girls showing up and staying,” said Ted Bandaruk, Harbor View’s coach in his 32nd year.

The girls, Elise Molnar, Tori Gabert, Victoria Kent, Margot Money and Heather Van Hiel, that Bandaruk named, played a game at Mira Costa High at 6 a.m. and then bolted to help their favorite youth swim coach and his kids win a championship. Afterward, around 1 p.m., when they were done with their events, they took a short break and left for Mira Costa again for a 4 p.m. game. The winning feeling didn’t stop on Saturday.

On Sunday, along with other teammates from Corona del Mar High, they won the Loyola Marymount tournament.

Their championship on Saturday was more for the community.

“The whole neighborhood swim program, it’s all about the kids who are 5-12,” said Jahn Van Hiel, Heather’s father. “I know when my kids were that age it was pretty important. So now they are doing the [younger] kids a favor to help those kids have a great season.”

The younger kids needed the help, but they certainly contributed, too.

Harbor View also won age-group titles in the boys’ 9-10 and 11-12 divisions. The Dolphins finished second place in seven divisions, which proved important since Harbor View won by 54 points.

Justin Hanson completed a standout effort for the Dolphins. He broke three SCSC records in the boys’ 9-10, while Timmy Hanson broke two conference marks.

“It was a great all-around team effort,” said Bandaruk, whose team lost to Newport Hills twice in dual meets this season. “I think team balance is the key. In this [conference] if you’re weak in any age group, it really hurts you. We are pretty solid across the board. We have no big holes on our team, so that counts when they add up the points.”

The SCSC finals proved to be a two-team race, as Green Valley (1,255), Lake Forest (1,071), Greenbrook (714) and Pacific Sands (680) followed behind.

Both Newport Hills and Harbor View weren’t at full strength as several of their swimmers were competing in the Boys’ Water Polo Junior Olympics. Still, Newport Hills, the host of the finals, nearly won the meet, capturing age-group titles in the boys’ and girls’ 6-and-under, boys’ and girls 7-8, girls’ 9-10 and boys’ 13-14 divisions.

“Our six-and-under age groups, that’s our foundation. That’s where it starts,” said Michelle Sperling, the Newport Hills coach. “For them to break records and for them to be the best this league has ever seen, it only gets better from there. Our six-and-under girls are dominant.”

Sophie Wallace broke a SCSC record in the girls’ 6-and-under 25-yard breaststroke, winning in 23.47 seconds. Taylor Cortens, in the boys’ 9-10, and Patrick White, in the boys’ 15-18, broke two conference records each.

For the Dolphins, Matt Berry, in the boys’ 13-14, and Ellen Naruse, in the girls’ 11-12, broke one record each.

STEVE VIRGEN may be reached at (714) 966-4616 or by e-mail at [email protected].