Girls swimming: Four Tars reach elite standard

NEWPORT BEACH - Newport Harbor High swim standouts Nicole Mackey,

Hayley Peirsol, Mai Tajima and Ashley Parole, who will all be seniors in

the fall, have earned prep All-American honors, based on time standards

set by the National Interscholastic Coaches Association.

Peirsol posted the highest national ranking for the Sailors, having

clocked the nation’s third-fastest 500-yard freestyle (4:45.41).

Mackey, who qualified as an All-American in five individual events and

two relays, also earned a top-10 ranking. She is 10th in nation in the

200 individual medley (2:02.60). Mackey ranks 12th in the 100 butterfly

(55.87), and also posted All-American times in the 100 free (51.96) and

100 backstroke (58.59).

Peirsol, who won the 800-meter freestyle in the second meet of the

Mare Nostrum series in Rome June 4, ranks 12th in the 200 free (1:49.78).

She also reached the All-American standard in the 200 individual medley

(2:08.48).

Tajima ranks 56th in the 100 back (57.95) and, along with Parole,

Mackey and Peirsol, posted the 29th fastest time in the 400 free relay

(3:33.42). The same foursome swan an All-American time of 1:51.90 in the

200 medley relay.