LA County Central team scores five-peat in Taplin relay [PHOTOS]
As a stadium-sized light lit up Hermosa Beach Saturday night, 16 men of the LA County Central team attempted a five-peat in the International Surf Festival’s Judge Irving Taplin Medley Relay.
And a five-peat is just what they achieved.
From start to finish the Central team held the lead, but they gained most of their momentum from lead swimmer Chad Carvin. This win puts Carvin’s name on the Taplin Bell six times.
“As a team it went very smooth, it was the biggest margin of victory I think we’ve had,” Carvin said. “Everyone did their part perfectly. It was well-orchestrated team work.”
Carvin’s lead was carried by the other three swimmers, Kicker Vencill, Juan Delgadillo and Sean Lemm.
Once paddlers Brian Murphy, Tom Seth, Tyler Contarsy and Shota Guterres got into the water, the pace picked up and their lead grew.
“I looked over and there was a girl paddling right next to me and I knew if that girl kicked my butt they would all make fun of me,” Guterres said. “Once you get closer to shore the light blinds you and you hope that you don’t run into a paddler on their way out.”
When Guterres returned to the shore, the first dory crew, Mike Colavita and Kyle Atkins, was ready to go.
“The most difficult part when we were out there was the chop,” Colavita said. “But it felt so great to win, I’ve been watching since I was a junior guard.”
The last three dory crews, made up of Oliver Oconnell, Dan Douglas, Phil Loy, Rob Pelkey, Jon VanDuinwyk and Andrew Czer, finished well in the lead. As they ran to the beach, they knew their names would be on that bell one more time.
“We all just hope to be on the Taplin Bell as many times as we can,” Carvin said.
Coming in second was the LA County Southern team and following them was the LA County Northern team.
When the race ended, each member of the LA County Central team celebrated by ringing the Taplin Bell the number of times his name appears.
“Every year it’s different and we just try and run a clean race every time, but it really feels great to win,” Guterres said.
Correction: Jon VanDuinwyk’s name was misspelled in an earlier version of this article.