2026 CIF San Diego Sectional Division 1
- May 6-9, 2026
- Chula Vista, California
- SCY (25 Yards)
- Full Meet Results
- CIF State Preview
At the 2026 CIF San Diego Division 1 Section Championships, Torrey Pines senior Charlie Hall, the son of Olympic gold medalist Gary Hall Jr., set two Division 1 records and participated in one San Diego Section record relay.
Boys Meet Recap
Top 5 Teams
- Torrey Pines — 430
- Westview — 275
- Del Norte — 255
- Canyon Crest — 239.5
- Helix — 163
The Torrey Pines boys team picked up their seventh straight San Diego Section title (excluding the 2020 season where there was no championship due to the pandemic).
Hall, who was swimming his first San Diego Section meet, raced the 50 free and 100 free events, breaking the San Diego Division 1 records in both. In the 50 free, he touched in 20.37, taking a tenth off Benjamin Stone’s 2025 record time of 20.47. He won the event by almost a second over San Marcos junior Lex Gustat‘s 21.21 in 2nd.
He swam 45.02 in the 100 free, leading the top four swimmers who were all from Torrey Pines High School. He cut two tenths off the 1989 record of 45.21 set by Mike Picotte.
Hall also raced on the two freestyle relays for the Torrey Pines boys team, breaking the San Diego Section record in the 200 freestyle relay. He anchored the team of Aidan Copeland (21.25), Lukas Stein (21.32), Hamilton Gates (20.91) in a huge 19.81 split. He stopped the clock in 1:23.29. This time took more than a second off Del Norte’s former record time of 1:24.67.
He wrapped up his meet as a member of the 400 freestyle relay. He once again anchored the same team of Aidan Copeland (46.75), Lukas Stein (47.01), and Hamilton Gates (46.93), swimming 45.21. The relay swam 3:05.40, just missing the section and D1 record time of 3:04.92 from 2024.
Hall was Torrey Pines’ only individual event winner of the meet, but there was one other two-event winner. Granite Hills senior Austin Felio won both the 200 and 500 freestyle races. In the 200 freestyle, he swam 1:39.64 to win by three tenths over Torrey Pines sophomore Kai Painter’s 1:39.92. This swim was three tenths off his lifetime best 1:39.35 from March.
Felio, who is committed to Colorado Mesa for the fall, swam 4:30.93 in the 500 freestyle, touching 10 seconds ahead of Westview junior Braeden Renken’s 4:40.83 in 2nd. He added seven tenths from the 4:30.34 he swam at the same meet last year.
Other Event Winners
- 200 Medley Relay: Canyon Crest (Darmen Yessengeldy (22.72), Tony Tang (27.16), Payton Lee (22.02), Aiden Walters (21.82)) — 1:33.72
- 200 IM: Wyatt Stratton (Del Norte) — 1:52.90
- 100 Fly: Aramis Willett (Grossmont) — 47.58
- 100 Backstroke: Darmen Yessengeldy (Canyon Crest) — 48.68
- 100 Breaststroke: Eric Yuan (Westview) — 56.93
Girls Meet Recap
Top 5 Teams
- Torrey Pines — 343
- San Marcos — 323
- Eastlake — 280
- Westview — 177
- Helix — 154
The Torrey Pines girls’ team won their first team title since 2021, scoring 343 points to come in just 20 points ahead of the San Marcos girls team.
The highlight of the meet on the girls’ side was Torrey Pines setting two Section records in the freestyle relays. In the 200 freestyle relay, they swam 1:33.76 with the team of Anita Qian (23.92), Carolyn Han (23.84), Katerina Wiefeldt, and Aya Ferguson. There are no splits for the final two members. They came in four tenths under their own section record of 1:34.16 from last year.
In the 400 freestyle relay, they swam 3:25.45 with Anita Qian (51.70), Scarlett Zhang (51.80), Katerina Wiefeldt (51.36), and Aya Ferguson (50.59). The former record was also their own from 2025 at 3:26.09.
Senior Aya Ferguson was their only individual event winner, swimming a season best 50.38 to win the 100 freestyle by almost a second over teammate Carolyn Han. Ferguson, who is committed to Northwestern for the fall, added about half-a-second from her best time of 49.83 from May of 2025.
Ferguson also picked up a silver in the 200 freestyle, swimming 1:49.30 to add almost two seconds from her best 1:47.61, which she set in February. She came in behind Granite Hills sophomore Ella Morgan, who won the event in 1:49.15. This swim was a second add from the 1:48.13 that she swam at this meet last year.
Morgan went on to also win the 500 freestyle in 5:00.32 after swimming 4:57.34 in prelims. Her lifetime best stands at 4:50.67, also from this meet last year.
San Marcos had one dual-event winner in the form of senior Madison McCormick. She swam 2:03.55 to set the top time in the 200 IM. She added about a second from her lifetime best 2:02.72 from March.
McCormick, who is committed to UC Davis for 2026, swam a personal best 54.57 in the 100 fly to take four tenths off her previous best 54.95 from February.
Other Event Winners
- 200 Medley Relay: Eastlake (Greysen Mains (26.83), Peyton Watkins (29.83), London Hughes (24.96), Alyssa Corkey (24.00)) — 1:45.62
- 50 Free: Maeven Simpson (San Marcos) — 23.43
- 100 Backstroke: Claire O’Mara (Westview) — 55.14
- 100 Breaststroke: Kasey Gray (Steele Canyon) — 1:03.71
Solid Mike Picotte reference there.
Is the Copeland I see mentioned also the son of a former competitive swimmer?
It also appears from his swimcloud to be his third season swimming, which if true is quite interesting as 20.3 is by no means a shabby time especially fir someone with only 3 years of training.
Awesome! I remember Gary being pretty innovative in his training and not following the herd mentality that was popular at the time. I wonder if his son is training in a similar fashion. Either way, great to hear another Hall lighting up the water.
I’ve noticed over the years that the high school coach, who might coach a swimmer for a limited time, gets the credit for that swimmer’s high school performance while their age group coach, who directs and developes their success gets nada.
I may have missed it, but I don’t think any coaches were mentioned in this article.
This is a high school meet, so yes swimmers are listed with their high school representations not their club representations. Every swimmer at this meet is currently unattached from a club, by definition.
Congrats Charlie. Some good times. I could have guessed that he would have swum the 50 and 100 free taking after his dad.
He could have followed in his Grandpa’s footsteps!
Gary Hall Jr’s genes worked overtime to ensure no future Halls would have to suffer the fate of Gary Hall Sr.
Genes? Great Grandpa on one side an NCAA champion; Grandpa on the other side a medalist in three Olympic Games and world record holder in 6 events, and dad with 10 Olympic medals.
Is he new to competition? Article says he is a Senior yet it is his first San Diego Section meet. Will he swim in college and, if so, where?
As a high schooler dad was :20.30 and :43.81;
Two Olympics, Flag Bearer in 1976(best USA team maybe ever). NCAA Champ multiple times, successful career. Father of Gary Hall Jr. Pretty good Fate Slate from my seat.
Let’s be honest — there isn’t a swimmer in the world who would be swimming 400 IM or 200 fly if they could go FAF in the 50/100 free.