The562’s coverage of Long Beach Wilson Athletics is sponsored by Joel Bitonio, Class of 2009.
The562’s coverage of aquatic sports in Long Beach is sponsored by the Aquatic Capital of America Foundation.
Wilson boys’ swimming has a pre-meet tradition of coming together to chant lyrics from Black Flag’s song Rise Above. Part of it is, “Try to stop us, it’s no use.”
That proved to be very true this year at the Moore League finals where Wilson reclaimed its crown after rival Long Beach Poly snapped its 49-year league winning streak last year.
The Bruins only won four of the league finals events at Long Beach City College in April, but used its superior depth to beat Poly 534-494 in a very competitive meet. Wilson received huge contributions from younger guys like Keegan Abing, Kai Bramble, and Elijah Vince, alongside Ace Dumont who recorded a personal best 1:03.21 in the 100 Breaststroke after never going under a 1:06.
However, Wilson has won 50 of the last 51 league titles because of great leadership and this year that role was filled by senior Wyatt Mitchell. The All-City boys’ swimming and water polo honoree won three races at the meet and was there to be the emotional support for all of his teammates.
“There was something behind this, we had something to prove,” said Wilson coach Brandon D’Sa. “Losing sucks, we know that, but we wanted it back. And you could feel it. You could feel it in the energy of the boys, you could feel it in the energy of the pool, and you could feel it in the way people were swimming including the Poly boys too. My boys swam great, they did exactly what they needed to do and overachieved in a lot of aways, this is competition. This is what competition does.”
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