Sports
Mira Costa Student Swims for the Gold
Meriel Mitsakos is entering her sophomore year at Mira Costa High School, fresh off winning gold and silver medals in lifeguard competitions.
Mira Costa High School student Meriel Mitsakos has had a busy summer. Mitsakos, 15, took home the gold in the run/swim/run event at the California Surf Lifesaving Association Junior regional competition.
The event consists of a 200-meter run, a 240-meter swim and another 200-meter run. In the United States Lifeguard Association Junior national meet, Mitsakos won first place with her relay swim team in the "A" age group of 14- to 15-year-olds. She also placed second in the distance swim.
Mitsakos is a member of the Los Angeles County Junior Lifeguard All-Stars and the Mira Costa varsity team.
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Hermosa Beach Patch: Congratulations on your achievement. How do you feel about winning first place?
Meriel Mitsakos: It's just a great experience. I felt really accomplished and everything. All of my teammates and instructors were really supportive. It was just a great experience overall.
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Patch: When did you first start swimming?
Mitsakos: I've swam since I was like 6 years old, I just started doing competitions when I started out really little. Then people told me about junior lifeguarding. I just thought it would be a fun and cool experience. It just kind of started out like that.
Patch: How do you usually get ready for the competition?
Mitsakos: You practice all the stuff, in the junior lifeguard program, you basically just have to go all out and just do what they told you to do, and just mentally prepare yourself.
You go to a specific location. They don't tell you where it is until the actual day, and you go and then you do all the events, [such as] the distance run, the run/swim/run, the swim, the iron guard. You can pick whatever you want… And then you swim the race, and for regionals you have to try out for that, you have to come in the top three.
Patch: Is it nerve-wracking?
Mitsakos: Yeah, just a little bit. But over the years, I've gotten pretty good at it.
Patch: What do you most enjoy about the sport?
Mitsakos: You meet a lot of new people from everywhere. Sometimes people just come to Los Angeles and do Junior Lifeguards… You see people from all over, New York, New Jersey, South Carolina, and you get to meet people.
