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Northwood’s Derek Hitchens splashes after winning the 100-yard freestyle in an Orange County record 43.79 seconds at the CIF-SS Division 1 swimming championships at Mt. SAC on Saturday, May 10, 2025. (Courtesy of Alex Tolkachev @oneinamillionshot)

ALL-COUNTY BOYS SWIMMING TEAM 2025

BOYS SWIMMER OF THE YEAR

Derek Hitchens, Northwood, Senior

Derek Hitchens wanted to leave high school swimming on a record-setting splash.

For his final two meets, the Northwood swimmer aimed to break a pair of Orange County records and help the Timberwolves claim the CIF State championship.

It was an ambitious plan, but Hitchens proved worthy of the challenge.

The Columbia-bound senior blasted county records in the 100-yard freestyle and 100 backstroke at the CIF Southern Section Division 1 finals and played a major role in the Timberwolves claiming a second state title.

The combination of individual and team success makes Hitchens the Register’s O.C. boys swimmer of the year, a first for a swimmer from Northwood.

“It’s a dream come true,” Hitchens said of the season. “My older brother Hunter won a state championship in 2018 with Northwood and now here I am … It’s just a blessing.”

“I’m really proud,” he added, “of the success that I’ve had and the success of my fellow swimmers.”

At the Division 1 finals on May 10, the Irvine Novaquatics club swimmer etched his name into county swimming lore by breaking the 1994 county record of six-time Olympian Derya Buyukuncu (Woodbridge) in the 100 free.

Hitchens touched first in 43.79 seconds to slice six one-hundredths of a second off Buyukuncu’s mark, the county’s oldest boys record.

After breaking Buyukuncu’s record, Hitchens raced on Northwood’s 200 free relay. He led off in 20.67 to help the Timberwolves edge JSerra with a time of 1:22.47.

Hitchens experienced a cramp before the 100 back finals and wasn’t sure how well he would race. But after praying behind the starting blocks, he captured the event in an Orange County-record and lifetime-best 47.19.

Hitchens broke Humberto Najera’s 2023 O.C. record for Santa Margarita by almost two-tenths of a second.

“He knew what he wanted,” Northwood coach Alex Nieto said of Hitchens’ performance at the Division 1 finals. “He wanted to make a statement.”

At the state meet on May 17, Hitchens and a few of his teammates sacrificed attending Northwood’s prom so they could race in Fresno.

Hitchens placed second in the 100 back (47.67), fifth in the 100 free (44.24) and raced on two relays, including the 400 free that took second (2:59.14).

Northwood finished the meet with 180 points to outdistance host Clovis West (161).

“It’s almost movie-esque,” Hitchens said of the decision to attend the state meet. “The other guys on the team, we talked about it. Will Chen is also a senior. Andrew (Maksymowski) is a junior. … We’re all, ‘We’ve had our eye on this goal for the entire season. We’re not just going to give it up now. We want to go.’ It definitely turned out well.”

Striking a balance between swimming and other pursuits isn’t new for Hitchens.

In his four year career at Northwood, he maintained a 4.1 grade-point average and took eight AP classes.

“He’s had an incredible four years,” Nieto said.

COACH OF THE YEAR

University’s Ryan Vande Wydeven is the Register’s Orange County boys swimming coach of the year for 2025. He guided the Trojans to the Pacific Coast League title. (Courtesy Madison Vande Wydeven)

Ryan Vande Wydeven, University

In his 10th season as University’s coach, Ryan Vande Wydeven guided the Trojans to the Pacific Coast League championship using their depth.

After going 2-1 in league duals, University outdistanced eventual state champion Northwood and defending league champion Portola to claim the league finals meet with 718 points. Northwood (616) and Portola (582) finished a distant second and third, respectively.

“I felt really confident from the get-go that we had the guys to do it,” Vande Wydeven said. “I knew we weren’t going to get a lot of first places but I thought we could get a lot of guys in (the) Top 10.”

“It was super-hype and I’m just happy to be able to do it with this group of guys,” the coach added.

University crowned one league champion in Matthew King in the 100 breaststroke (56.94). The Trojans showed depth by winning the consolation finals in two of the three relays with their B teams.

Vande Wydeven guided University to its first league title since 2019. The Trojans placed 10th in Division 1, an improvement of eight spots from 2024.

ALL-COUNTY TEAM

(All distances in yards)

200 medley relay: Santa Margarita (Adam Lee, Sr., Taylor Thongintra, So., Darren Nguyen, Jr., Daniel Fu, Sr.) 1:31.80; Northwood (Derek Hitchens, Sr., Will Chen, Sr. , Eli Siniak, Fr., Michael Wang, Fr.) 1:31.81

200 freestyle: Andrew Maksymowski (Northwood, Jr.) 1:35.61; Will Chen (Northwood, Sr.) 1:38.12

200 individual medley: Peter Vu (Fountain Valley, Jr.) 1:48.43-SL; Derek Hitchens (Northwood, Sr.) 1:48.47

Newport Harbor junior Connor Ohl leads Orange County in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 19.79 seconds entering the CIF-SS Division 1 swimming finals at Mt. SAC on May 10, 2025. (Photo by Dan Albano, Orange County Register/SCNG)

50 freestyle: Connor Ohl (Newport Harbor, Jr.) 19.79-SL; Nolan Baker (JSerra, Jr.) 20.32; Robin Koehler (Woodbridge, Sr.) 20.32

100 butterfly: Aidan Arie (Newport Harbor, Sr.) 48.28; Derek Hitchens (Northwood, Sr.) 48.29-PCL

100 freestyle: Derek Hitchens (Northwood, Sr.) 43.79-OC; Nolan Baker (JSerra, Jr.) 44.29

500 freestyle: Andrew Maksymowski (Northwood, Jr.) 4:23.91; Jay Hickman (Villa Park, Jr.) 4:27.56

200 freestyle relay: Northwood (Derek Hitchens, Sr., Eli Siniak, Fr., Will Chen, Sr., Andrew Maksymowski, Jr.) 1:22.47; JSerra (Nolan Baker, Jr., Taylor Bell, Sr., Noah Ryznar, Sr., Connor Colman, Jr.) 1:22.48

100 backstroke: Derek Hitchens (Northwood, Sr.) 47.19-OC; Andrew Maksymowski (Northwood, Jr.) 49.05

100 breaststroke: Elonzo Santos (Mater Dei, Jr.) 54.09; Peter Vu (Fountain Valley, Jr.) 54.62-SL

400 freestyle relay: Northwood (Eli Siniak, Fr., Will Chen, Sr., Andrew Maksymowski, Jr., Derek Hitchens, Sr.) 2:59.14; JSerra (Nolan Baker, Jr., Noah Ryznar, Sr., Connor Colman, Jr., Taylor Bell, Sr.) 3:00.75

Diving: Grant Schneider (Capistrano Valley Christian, Sr.) 600.35; Chase Shipp (Laguna Beach, Sr.) 565.80

All-County legend: OC-Orange County record; PCL-Pacific Coast League record; SL-Sunset League record

Note: Diving selections based on CIF-SS division and CIF State finals.

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