Buena Still Leagues Better in Channel : Swimming: Bulldog girls continue streak by swamping Santa Barbara with depth charge.

VENTURA — Midway through Thursday’s Channel League swim meet against Santa Barbara High, Buena sophomore Rebecca Gilman found herself in the unusual position of having time to kill.

One of the top distance freestylers in the nation, Gilman, the defending Southern Section Division I 500-yard freestyle champion, wasn’t entered in that event because she wasn’t needed.

The Bulldog girls’ swim team is so deep that even against the Dons, the toughest competition the league has to offer, Buena won every non-diving event in a 124-62 victory at Buena High.

Buena’s league domination is even more impressive considering that this was the first time the Bulldogs (7-0, 7-0) competed at full strength.

Several of Buena’s top swimmers, including Gilman, Liah Kim, Erin Schatz and Nicole Beck, compete at the national level and swim intermittently in dual meets.

Against Santa Barbara (6-1, 6-1), Buena could afford to keep Gilman out of her showcase event. Gilman still placed first in the 200 (1 minute 54.85 seconds) and 100 freestyle (55.26) and was left to cavort with her teammates as Schatz took first in the 500 freestyle (5:07.06).

“It was nice to have a change like that, to do something a little different,” Gilman said. “It’s a break from the routine.”

Kim and Beck each won two individual races and combined with Schatz and Gilman for victories in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays.

In the boys’ meet, Buena (7-0, 7-0) won, 123-62, after taking an early lead when Troy Dumais (355.10 points) won the one-meter springboard dive and Justin Dumais (350.70) placed second. Santa Barbara is 6-1, 6-1.