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Merced Union High School District

A Relevant Education For All

May 4, 2026

Record Splash: CCC Finals bring titles and broken marks for MUHSD swimmers.

Swimmer in the pool celebrating winning the race

Two photos of swimmers celebrating after race.

Champions were crowned and records were broken as many MUHSD swimmers turned into stellar performances at the Central California Conference swimming championship on Friday at the Roddy Svendsen Aquatic Center at Atwater High School. The afternoon ended with the Merced High boys and girls teams celebrating CCC championships by diving in the pool with their coaches.

 

The Merced girls scored 551 team points to win their third consecutive CCC championship. The El Capitan girls finished second with 491 points. The El Capitan boys scored 498 points to win the meet and earn a share of the CCC championship with Merced, which finished second with 469 points. The Bears earned a share of their fourth consecutive CCC championship after going 5-0 in dual meets.

 

Three CCC records were also broken as Atwater High junior Ethan Sotelo set a new 200-yard freestyle record with a time of 46.88 seconds. Sotelo eclipsed the record of former Golden Valley High swimmer Brian Carter, whose time of 47.24 stood since 2004. Sotelo celebrated the record by pumping his fish in the water after touching the wall. “It meant a lot, I put a lot into it,” said Sotelo, who also won the 200 free with a time of 1:44.78. “It takes a lot of consistency, showing up six days a week for practices. A lot of it is a grind because it’s you versus you.”

 

El Capitan High star Valoria Martinez broke her own record in the 50 freestyle, which she set at trials on Thursday Martinez won the 50 with a time of 24.48 seconds. “It feels so amazing for me,” Martinez said. “It feels like I achieved everything I wanted. It’s  just a life dream that I accomplished.”

Three photos of swimmers participating in their races, diving into the pool, and on the starting block.

Martinez also won the 100 freestyle with a time of 54.52 and then she was a part of another records-setting performance as she teamed up with Sloane Dingeldein, Grace Phillips and Brooklyn Ramsey to win the 200 freestyle relay in 1:43.13, breaking the previous record of 1:43.67 set by a Merced High team in 1998, that included Dingeldein’s aunt Margie Dingeldein, who went on to win an Olympic bronze medal with Team USA women’s water polo team in the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

 

Helping the Merced girls win were Aylin Piasai, who won the 200 freestyle (2:00.42) and 100 butterfly (1:02.32). The Bears’ Dottie Drury earned a victory in the 100 backstroke, touching the wall in 1:02.90, just four hundredths of a second before teammate Kate McIntosh (1:02.94). Florence Cera picked up a win in the 100 breaststroke for the Bears in a time of 1:14.90) and Merced also picked up a wins in the 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay. 

 

The El Capitan boys were led by Henry Garcia’s wins in the 50 freestyle (23.33) and 100 backstroke (59.63). Teammate Luke Parker picked up a win in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:59.86 and the Gauchos won the 400 freestyle relay.

 

Other MUHSD swimmers to win individual CCC titles were El Capitan’s Ramsey in the 200 IM (2:16.68) and Dingeldein in the 500 freestyle (5:31.17) in the girls championships and Merced’s Reid McCall in the 200 IM (2:06.09) and Jason Li in the 100 butterfly (58.65) and Buhach Colony’s Julian Magallon in the 100 breaststroke (1:02.53) on the boys side.

Three close up photos of swimmers in the middle of their races.

Next up for swimmers will be the Sac-Joaquin Section Trials and Championships. The trials will be held on May 6th and 7th at Elk Grove’s District 56 with the section championships scheduled for Friday, May 8th at the same location. 

 

Kelvyn Edwards highlighted Livingston’s boys and girls swimming performance at the Western Athletic Conference championships last week. The Wolves junior won the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:07.80 and finished third in the 100 freestyle (57.50). Livingston finished fifth as a team in boys and girls. Freshman Daelin Edwards had the next best finish by placing fourth in the 100 backstroke (1:14.82).

 

Other Wolves to reach the finals and finish in the top include: Lexi Perez (200 freestyle), Claire Reynoso (500 freestyle), Alejandro Gonzalez (200 IM), and Daelin Edwards (200 freestyle). 


Shawn Jansen is the MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media. He can be reached at Sjansen@muhsd.org.