Guerra excels at Junior Olympics - Potter Jr. High eighth-grader now ranks 10th in the nation

Bobby Guerra tied for the high point award in the boys’ 13-14 age group at the Junior Olympic Championships meet February 25-27 at Poway Community Pool.

The Potter Junior High School eighth-grader won five events while finishing second in one other race, and he posted personal best times in all six events.

“What was really neat about it is that he had never won an individual event before at JOs,” said Fallbrook Associated Swim Team coach Sean Redmond.

The 14-year-old Guerra won the 1,000-yard freestyle race with a time of 10:49.31, which places him tenth in the nation among all 13-year-old and 14-year-old boys since January 1. His time at the Junior Olympics competition was ten seconds faster than his previous personal best.

Guerra’s winning time of 16:29.08 in the 1,650-yard freestyle was a 27-second drop from his previous best time. The performance ranked 15th in the nation among his age group for 2011.

Guerra’s time of 2:02.14 which won the 200-yard butterfly is the 70th-fastest time in the nation this year for his age group. He took 55.40 seconds to win the 100-yard butterfly, which places him 101st in the nation since January 1. Guerra won the 200-yard freestyle race in 1:49.23, which ranked 108th in the nation during 2011.

Guerra’s second-place finish was in the 500-yard freestyle, which he swam in 4:45.65. That time placed him 29th in the nation.

“He’s actually faster right now than many of our high school boys,” Redmond said.

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