Olivia Smith made it two swimming wins in a row at the Semana Nautica summer sports festival as she captured the women’s title in the 3-mile ocean swim on a cold Sunday morning at East Beach.
The overall winner was Taylor Steffen, who finished 5 minutes ahead Smith in a time of 1 hour, 2 minutes and 26 seconds. Myles Peck came in second with a time of 1:03.36 and Chris Braden was third in 1:05.19.
Smith finished in 1:07.59, which was good for eighth place overall.
The San Marcos alum and UC Davis swimmer captured the women’s 1-mile swim title on Saturday. Her two victories clinched Semana Nautica Female Swimmer of the Year honors for the second straight year.
“It feels really good, I was really happy with it,” said Smith of her second win of the weekend. “I was reenergized for this race.”
Karen Schultz came in second for the women and 10th overall with a time of 1:08.12 seconds. Mallory Mead was right behind her in third at 1:08.20.
Steffen, a Santa Barbara resident who has been homeschooled for high school and just completed his studies, explained his strategy for the race.
“I was drafting behind two guys probably until the two-mile mark and then I just broke out and sprinted the last mile,” he explained.
After Sunday’s win and a second place in the mile, Steffen, who plans on attending Concordia University of Irvine, clinched the Male Swimmer of the Year Award.
Because of the overcast morning, the water was cold. One finisher had to be treated for hypothermia.
“It was cold, my hands and feet got pretty numb,” said Steffen.
— Noozhawk intern Blythe Hastings can be reached at sports@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawksports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.