Butterfly

Special to the Valley Sun The CCY Dragon Swim Team started out the New Year with an outstanding effort at the Southern California Regional Championships, held Jan. 8-9 at the Commerce Aquatorium. Ranging in age from 5 to 17, these dedicated boys and girls, trained by head Coach Sean Kang and assistant coaches Richard Hamilton and Joy Lim, won praise from rival coaches and cheers from their proud parents as they out swam the competition and emerged as the swimmers to beat at these championships.

TEAM-BY-TEAM PREVIEWS CRESCENTA VALLEY COACH: Peter Kim, sixth year. LEAGUE: Pacific. LAST SEASON: 14-1, 10-0 league champion. Runner-up in CIF Southern Section Division II. SWIMMERS TO WATCH: Jessica Ban, senior, sprint freestyle; Kira Freeman, junior, sprint freestyle; Minah Kim, freshman, backstroke/individual medley; Megan Martin, junior, backstroke/individual medley; Amanda Miller, junior, butterfly/sprint freestyle; Meghedy Shanazarian, freshman, all-around; Lindsay Taylor, senior, butterfly/individual medley.

Hamlet Nalbandyan Even though no one stood out, 12 local boys' and girls' swimmers participated in the prestigious 2002 Speedo Janet Evans Invitational at McDonald's Swim Stadium on the campus of USC. Leading the list of local finishers was former Crescenta Valley High standout Alexis Sheridan. Swimming for Swim Pasadena, Sheridan participated in six events from July 17-21. Her best finish came in the 1,500-meter freestyle, in which she took 20th place in 17 minutes 41.79 seconds.

Sandra Kraisirideja, Weekend GLENDALE -- Using real butterfly wings, Sanskrit text and various grains, seeds and spices, artist Sinan Leong Revell wanted to create multimedia paintings that would reflect her own unique background. Born in China, Revell emigrated to America in 1991 by way of Australia. She lives in Calabasas with her husband and two teenage children. Her newest work was inspired during a visit to China last year. While in a courtyard of a temple, she witnessed Buddhists creating colorful sand illustrations of mandala -- the symbol for the universe depicted by a circle enclosing a square.