Broncos’ Huynh battles through cold in final prep race

Driving home last weekend from the swimming state championships at Clovis Buchanan, Rancho Bernardo’s Tin Huynh dealt with a cold that ruined his chances against the state’s top swimmers and with the conclusion of his final competition as a Bronco.

Huynh felt the sting all the way home.

“The cold was terrible timing,’’ said the senior, who competed in both the 50-yard and 100 freestyle events. “At that point, I knew I couldn’t place, so I just wanted to see what my body could still do.

“I didn’t perform the way I wanted to, but the cold took care of that. I thought I did better than I thought I would.’’

In Friday’s prelims, the 5-foot-6 Huynh wound up 21st in the 50 freestyle with a time of 21.37 seconds and 30th in the 100 freestyle in a time of 47.89.

Neither time was close to his personal best, but he was satisfied with the performance in spite of the obstacles.

A year ago, in the initial state championship meet, Huynh placed 17th in the 50 freestyle (21.37) and 22nd in the 100 freestyle (46.88).

He was hoping to build off that outing until the cold hit.

Huynh, a four-year varsity performer for the Broncos, leaves campus as a three-time San Diego Section champion in the 50 freestyle, including posting a 20.99 time to capture this year’s event.

In the 100 freestyle, Huynh captured his first title in a time of 46.97.

His personal best in the 50 freestyle is 20.93 while his top time in the 100 freestyle is 46.36.

“I think I can get the 100 free time down in the 45s,’’ said Huynh, who will continue his swimming career next year at UC San Diego. “My back end of the 50 needs to get better.

“The 50 free I think I can get down to 20.6 something. Every tenth of a second takes about a year’s worth of work.’’

Huynh began his swimming career, according to his memory, when he was about 3.

He’s grown up swimming, first at the YMCA for lessons before becoming more committed less than a year later.

His first venture into competitive swimming came around age 8.

“When I’m in the pool, I feel relaxed,’’ Huynh said. “It relieves all my stress. I love to be by myself because I can swim all my troubles away.’’

Except when he found out about early morning swim practices that competitive swimmers have dealt with for decades.

That meant, for Huynh, being in the pool practicing at 5 a.m.

“You’ve got to be kidding,’’ Huynh said. “I thought I’d have to do that once a week, but it wound up being three times a week.

“I just got used to it to the point that it became quite normal.

“Once I’d get in the pool, I’d instantly wake up completely.’’

Those morning workouts won’t go away in college. Because Huynh plans to major in structural engineering at UCSD, he’ll have to practice in the morning so he won’t miss afternoon classes in his major.

“On the drive home from Fresno, it hit me that I am almost done at RB,’’ Huynh said. “Four years went by and I didn’t realize it until right now.

“If I could go back, I’d try to be a better teammate. I should have paid more attention in the pool.’’

There was almost no chance Huynh, a life-long San Diego resident, would go anywhere else for college, especially to a school in cold weather.

“I like to ski when I get a chance, but when I go I wear five layers of clothes to stay warm,’’ Huynh said, laughing. “I look like an Eskimo on the slopes.’’

Monahan is a freelance writer