Butterfly

This year is shaping up to be a memorable one at the movies. Now, with the release of ?The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,? we can add it to the growing list of this year?s many great films. That a film about a man entombed within his own body is one that not only flies but soars is a tribute to not only the filmmakers but also the man?s life on which it is based. Directed by Julian Schnabel from a script by Ronald Harwood, ?The Diving Bell and the Butterfly? is based on the memoir of the same name by Jean-Dominique Bauby (Mathieu Amalric)

GLENDALE ? Over the final two days of the Speedo Grand Challenge, which concluded Sunday evening at the Woolett Aquatics Center in Irvine, three swimmers with local ties made their way into championship final heats. Crescenta Valley High junior Yumi So followed up a third-place performance in the championship final of Saturday?s 100-yard butterfly with a first-place finish in Sunday?s A-final of the 200 butterfly. Her Swim Pasadena teammate Andrea Kropp, a sophomore at Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, placed in the top four of championship heats in the 400 individual medley and the 200 breaststroke, while James Martin, a Crescenta Valley grad representing Trojan Swim Club, took home second place in the championship final of the 100 backstroke on Saturday.

The CCY Dragon boys and girls lived up to expectations at the 20th annual Dragon Invitational Meet, held Nov. 3/4 at the Commerce Aquatorium. Jason Kim swam for two YMCA National qualifying times in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes, setting new meet records along the way and going for gold in the 50 and 200 freestyles, 100 and 200 backstrokes, and 200 individual medleys. Nam Hee Kim, won all of her events in the girls' 15 and older division (100 and 500 freestyles, 100 backstroke, 200 individual medley )

CRESCENTA VALLEY COACH: Jan Sakonju, eighth year. LEAGUE: Pacific SWIMMERS TO WATCH: Vinh Doan, senior, freestyle/backstroke; Ted Gonder, senior, freestyle/breaststroke; Sharif Alaoui, junior, individual medley/butterfly; James Hales, senior, sprint freestyle; Mason Takidan, senior, sprint freestyle; Mason Holland, senior, breaststroke; Andrew De Jong, freshman, butterfly. SAKONJU’S QUOTE: “They’re hard working and they’ve got talent.

Six members of the Crescenta Valley boys' and girls' swim teams advanced to the Pacific League Finals following the league preliminaries on Tuesday at Pasadena City College. The finals took place at PCC yesterday (Thursday), but results were not available at press time. In the boys' division, Chris Sherman and James Martin both qualified for two events. Sherman will swim in the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle and Martin will compete in the 100 backstroke and 100 breaststroke.

The CCY Dragon Swim Team delivered another winning performance at the YMCA Southern California Regional Championships held Feb. 28-29 at the Commerce Aquatorium. Competing in a field of 634 swimmers from 11 different Y swim clubs, the 82 boys and girls of the CCY Swim Team scored enough points to take a close second the the 207-member San Pedro team. Ranging in age from 5 to 17, these dedicated swimmers, coached by Sean Kang and assistants Orrie and Richard Hamilton, won praise from rival coaches and cheers from their proud parents and teammates as they ended the 2003-2004 YMCA season with a stellar effort.

GLENDALE — Some of the top youth and college swimmers from around the nation came together at Mission Viejo Marguerite Swim Center for the four-day 2010 TYR Swim Meet of Champions, which concluded on Sunday evening. The final day of competition saw three athletes with ties to Crescenta Valley High compete in championship finals, with 2009 graduate Yumi So and current freshmen Young Tae Seo and Harrison Thai performing well in their heats. So, who will be a sophomore at USC in the fall, picked up a third-place finish in 1 minute 01.90 seconds in the A-final heat of the women's 100-meter butterfly on Sunday to go with the fourth-place finish she turned in in 2:16.

PASADENA — A bright future was on display for the Flintridge Prep swimming teams as the Rebels boys and girls competed in the Prep League Swimming and Diving League Championships at Pasadena City College on Saturday. Freshman Marco Flores and sophomore Bruce Park delivered the only first-place finishes for the Rebels. Flores came out on top of the 500-yard freestyle in 5 minutes .18 seconds, which also earned him a CIF consideration time. Park's time of 56.99 in the 100 butterfly was also good for first.

GLENDALE — The amount of success the Crescenta Valley High boys' swimming team has progressively enjoyed at the CIF level over the past couple of seasons hasn't placated the Falcons at all. They want more. In fact, they want it all. "They want to go after the championship," said Crescenta Valley Coach Jan Sakonju, whose team followed up its 2009 seventh-place showing in CIF Southern Section Division II with last year's runner-up finish behind Oaks Christian. "It's talked about all the time and it's what guys are working for. People want to win a championship.

GLENDALE — Andrea Kropp continued her year of impressive performances in breaststroke events on Saturday, this time on the national stage. The recent Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy graduate, who captured a CIF Southern Section Division I title in the 100-yard breaststroke in May, placed fifth in the championship final of the 200-meter breaststroke in 2 minutes 27.63 seconds at the 2010 ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships at William J. Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine.

GLENDALE — Some of the top youth and college swimmers from around the nation came together at Mission Viejo Marguerite Swim Center for the four-day 2010 TYR Swim Meet of Champions, which concluded on Sunday evening. The final day of competition saw three athletes with ties to Crescenta Valley High compete in championship finals, with 2009 graduate Yumi So and current freshmen Young Tae Seo and Harrison Thai performing well in their heats. So, who will be a sophomore at USC in the fall, picked up a third-place finish in 1 minute 01.90 seconds in the A-final heat of the women's 100-meter butterfly on Sunday to go with the fourth-place finish she turned in in 2:16.

The top-10 female high school athletes of the year were voted on by the Glendale News-Press sports department. These are selections 2 through 10. See Friday’s edition for the Female Athlete of the Year.   2 Yumi So, Crescenta Valley swimming, senior Yumi So, Crescenta Valley swimming, senior — So, who will attend USC in the fall, had several defining moments with the Falcons and proved she’s one of the elite swimmers in the state by setting records everywhere.

Gasps of amazement rose from a group of awe-struck preschoolers and kindergartners as they watched an instructor unfold a finger-painting of a colorful butterfly. “Whooaaaa!” the group of 4-, 5- and 6-year-olds said in unison after watching a demonstration of what appeared to be disorganized techniques that produced pristine pictures of the winged insects. The class at Bonnie Academy on Thursday was enjoying one of many arts activities planned for the school’s summer program, Administrator Ani Kuyumjian said.

LONG BEACH — Yumi So couldn’t quite grasp the record she was really after at Tuesday’s CIF Southern Section Masters Meet — the national high school mark in the 100-yard breaststroke — but in the fashion that has come to define the Crescenta Valley High senior over her high school career, she didn’t leave without a record of some sort and a title. Like the majority of other entrants in Tuesday’s Masters Meet, an interdivisional meet that directly followed Saturday’s division finals, So wasn’t able to drop time from her Division II 100 butterfly win. Her time of 53.08 seconds was still a Masters Meet record and good for her second Masters title, but was .05 second higher than her Division II record time on Saturday and short of Misty Hyman’s 1996 national mark of 52.41.

WALNUT ? From the moment her form resurfaced after diving into each of her two individual events Saturday, the outcomes of Yumi So?s races were never in doubt. As her lead steadily increased over the seven other swimmers in the lanes around her, all in attendance at Saturday?s CIF Southern Section Division II finals at Mount San Antonio College nonetheless remained captivated, riveted not on whether she would win, nor by how much, but simply how quickly. The expectation was to see records fall.

GLENDALE — Andrea Kropp had her best day so far in the 2008 Speedo Junior National Championships on Wednesday. On Thursday, it was Kropp’s Swim Pasadena teammate Yumi So’s turn to shine. Over the last two days, each local standout swimmer enjoyed their best championship A-final performances of the 18-and-under event in Minneapolis. Kropp, a Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy junior-to-be and former CIF Southern Section Division II titlist, qualified for her second championship final of the week with a second-best preliminary time of 4 minutes 51.36 seconds in the 400-meter individual medley on Wednesday.

Yumi So?s reaction to the news that she had been voted swimmer of the year was one of surprise, partly born of modesty and partly of genuine puzzlement. ?I was kind of shocked because I haven?t been to a lot of high school meets this year,? the Crescenta Valley High junior said. ?I?ve been to less than half.? So?s time with the Falcons this year was fleeting, but when it came to the biggest meets of the Pacific League and CIF Southern Section Division II, So was there and she was unbeatable, leading the sportswriters and editors of the Crescenta Valley Sun, Glendale News-Press and Burbank Leader to unanimously select her as Girls?