By Sophie Kaufman on SwimSwam
2025 CIF Sac Joaquin Section Swimming and Diving Championships
- May 5-9, 2025
- Elk Grove Aquatic Complex – Elk Grove, Calif.
- SCY (25 Yards)
- Results: “2025 CIF Sac Joaquin Section”
Elk Grove Aquatic Complex played host to a thrilling edition of the Sac Joaquin Section Swimming and Diving Championships. Multiple championship records fell, and Davis swept the team titles. There was a thrilling girls’ team race in the junior varsity standings between Granite Bay and St. Francis came down to the final event, the 400 freestyle relay. The Del Oro girls won the event (3:05.51) and St. Francis took second, but Granite Bay touched fourth, holding off St. Francis for the win by a single point.
In the boys’ varsity standings, Davis repeated as the team champions. Last year, their win denied Jesuit a three-peat. Davis scored 311 points, withstanding a strong push from Granite Bay, which won the 200 and 400 freestyle relays. Granite Bay took second with 294 points, while Jesuit took third with 234.
Jada Duncan Defends Her Titles With Two Records
Whitney senior Jada Duncanlit up the championships for the third-straight year, defending her 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly titles in championship record times. First, the UCLA commit swam a 22.37, breaking the record of 22.64 that she established last season. She won the race by almost a second and was .23 seconds from the 22.14 lifetime best she swam at the Winter Junior Championships in December.
Duncan had a quick turnaround to the 100 butterfly final. She demolished the meet record she clocked in 2023 (53.38), taking 1.11 seconds off the standard with a 52.27. The swim was a personal best for her, improving on her 52.33 from Winter Juniors.
Each of these wins gave Duncan a three-peat in these two individual events at her last section championships.
Boys Sprint Freestyle Record Bonanza
The sprint freestylers rewrote the CIF-San Joaquin Section Championship record books at this meet. West Park junior Jordan Raglandset the tone in prelims, breaking Kyle Wylder’s 50 freestyle championship record that had stood for 11 years. Ragland blazed a lifetime best 19.69, qualifying first for prelims and shattering Wylder’s 20.14 mark. Granite Bay junior Brody Chandlerwas also under the former record, swimming 19.97 for a lifetime best of his own.
The two were both under Wylder’s mark again in the final, with the Louisville commit Ragland taking the win in 19.70, just a hundredth off his record from the prelims session. Chandler, an Army West point commit, closed the gap to Ragland with a 19.82 for silver in another personal best.
It was all Chandler in the 100 freestyle. He followed Ragland’s example and took down the championship record in prelims, clocking 43.86 and bringing the record sub-44 seconds for the first time. Liam O’Haimhirgin had held the record at 44.07 record since 2017. Chandler hacked more time off the record in the final, swimming a lifetime best 43.63.
Chandler returned to the top of the podium later in the meet as Granite Bay successfully defended its 200 and 400 freestyle relay titles. He led off Granite Bay’s relay in 19.99, then turned things over to Tristan Popp (21.60), Tyler Seward (21.18), and Madden Magee (20.80) as they swam 1:23.57, rattling the meet record (1:23.20) that’s stood since 2014. Later, Chandler and Popp teamed with Robbie Doolittle and Kota Charles to win the 400 freestyle relay in 3:05.51, with Chandler anchoring in 43.61.
Double Event Winners
The girls’ side of the meet had multiple double event winners. In addition to Duncan defending her titles in record time, Del Oro senior Melanie Quintocontrolled the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke, while Oak Ridge senior Callie Kowalchik won the 100 and 200 freestyle.
Quinto finished third in the 200 IM last season and second in the 100 breaststroke last season. This year, she stood atop the podium after swimming a 2:01.56 in the former and 1:02.98 in the latter. Her 100 breaststroke time was a personal best, her first in the event since the 2022 CIF San Joaquin Section Championships.
She also helped Del Oro win the 200 and 400 freestyle relays (1:34.93/3:25.16).
Kowalchik triumphed in close battles against River City junior Brianna Goughto win both her crowns. First, Kowalchik swam a lifetime best 1:49.25 to win the 200 freestyle, coming from a tenth behind on the final 50 yards to get the win ahead of Gough’s 1:49.39. She used the same strategy to win the 100 freestyle, letting Gough lead the race around at the halfway mark. Then, she split 25.69 on the final 50 to get her hand on the wall in 50.21 ahead of Gough’s personal best 50.44 for silver.
Jesuit senior Emi Zamudiograbbed two wins to help his program to third, taking gold in the 200 freestyle and the 100 backstroke. Zamudio defended his 200 freestyle title with a 1:38.82 in the middle of a tone-setting start for the Jesuit boys; the freshman/sophomore squad won the JV 200 medley relay and his fellow senior Brady Calkinsrepeated as the 200 IM in the next event (1:48.75).
Zamudio is committed to USC and won the 200/500 freestyle double at these championships last season. He dropped the 500 freestyle for the 100 back this year. The move paid off; he won gold in 47.98 after clocking a personal best 47.82 in prelims.
He led a 1-3 finish for his team in the event, as Calkins—the defending champion and a Notre Dame commit—earned bronze in 48.67. Junior Brandon Hawas sandwiched between them, taking silver in a lifetime best 48.40. It was his second lifetime best of the day. Earlier in the meet, he swam 46.27 to win the 100 butterfly, coming within four-tenths of Luca Urlando’s meet record of 45.88 from 2019.
Davis, the defending champions, had a strong outing in the 100 breaststroke as Remo Mann(54.00) and Isaac Carsel(54.18) earned gold and silver. It was Carsel’s second silver of the day, as he took a narrow second place to Calkins in the 200 IM in a personal best 1:48.84, contributing significantly to Davis’ points total.
Final Results
Varsity Girls
- Davis — 255.5
- St. Francis — 241
- Del Oro — 224
Varsity Boys
- Davis — 311
- Granite Bay — 294
- Jesuit — 234
JV Girls’ Top 3
- Granite Bay – 209
- St Francis – 208
- Whitney – 199
JV Boys’ Top 3
- Jesuit – 262
- Granite Bay – 190
- Rio Americano – 170
Content Correction: This article has been updated to reflect that it was Granite Bay’s JV boys’ 200 freestyle relay team that was disqualified, not the varsity team and to add/make a distinction between the varsity and junior varsity final scores.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Jada Duncan Resets Her CIF-Sac Joaquin Section Championship Records In 50 Free and 100 Fly