Swimming:

Ella Lesnever didn’t just end her historic prep career in style.

The Blair High School senior became the most prolific swimmer in the history of the great city of Pasadena.

Lesnever was tied with Dick Lyons, who, for 84 years had a city-best four individual CIF-SS swimming titles.

Ella caught Lyons in 2024 with four of her own.

And she still had one final season to become Queen of the Pool.

Just a few weeks ago, Lesnever won her fourth consecutive 50-freestyle, and she secured a 100-freestyle title on the same day at Mt. San Antonio College.

Moreover, Lesnever broke the 50-and-100-freestyle records set by Mary Hanson of Ridgecrest Christian that had stood since 2010 and 2009, respectively.

Heading into the CIF-SS Division 4 finals, Ella’s goal of swimming the 50 in under 23 seconds, and the 100-freestyle in 50 seconds or less before graduating high school had yet to come to fruition.

However, to borrow a song title from Vanessa Williams, Lesnever ‘saved the best for last.’

In the 50-freestyle, Ella finished at 22.92.

And in the 100-freestyle, she set a new record of 49.83.

Hanson’s record in the 50-free was 23.11, and she finished the 100-freestyle in 51.01 some 16 years ago.

The Blair girls 4×50 relay team that included Jordan Fleischman, Suubi Kirya-Sales, Anna Ancker and Lesnever swam a season-best 1:53.36 to finish eighth in Division 4.

The Vikings’ girls finished 12th overall out of 65 D-4 programs.

Both of her individual times are automatic all-American times.

Ella was also an all-American swimmer in both events during her junior campaign.

Unfortunately, CIF-SS finals was her final high school meet, as scheduling conflicts kept her from attending the CIF State events.

If you thought her in-pool prowess was impressive, wait until you read the rest of her story.

Ella graduated from Blair last week as an International Baccalaureate Diploma candidate, earning the State Seal of Biliteracy in Spanish and as a member of the National Honor Society.

Her impact at Blair, however, goes far beyond the classroom or the pool.

Just last weekend, Ella received the prestigious National Gold Award Scholarship from the Girl Scouts of the USA.

A scout since kindergarten, she earned her Gold Award last spring and was one of only approximately 100 scouts nationwide selected for this top honor, which includes a $5,000 scholarship.

She was recognized for founding the Blair Viking Boosters, a student/parent-run 501(c)(3) nonprofit supporting all Blair athletics.

Ella’s passion for giving-back started early.

In middle school, she partnered with the Pasadena Education Foundation to help reinvigorate Blair’s aquatics program.

At the time, the team couldn’t host home meets due to a lack of basic equipment like starting blocks and a timing system.

Lesnever changed that.

She personally raised over $30,000 to purchase an automatic touchpad timing system and scoreboards used by both the swim and water polo teams.

This spring, Blair hosted its first home swim meet in more than a decade against Monrovia High School on equipment Ella helped bring to life.

From there, she turned her focus to supporting athletes across all sports.

The Blair Viking Boosters, which she launched, has raised over $125,000 in just three years.

Under her leadership, the boosters helped renovate the school’s baseball and softball fields in partnership with Pasadena Southwest Little League, funded meals and championship rings for the CIF-winning boys basketball team, and she provided support for student-led events like the Blair Big 5k and the swim-a-thon.

The group is now completing a major renovation of Blair’s athletic weight room.

Ella will step down from the Boosters Board this summer, as she heads to the University of Wyoming to study biology/pre-med and compete on their NCAA Division 1 swim team.

The nonprofit she created will continue under the leadership of a dedicated group of parents she helped inspire.

She leaves Blair better than she found it, and in every way possible.

Congratulations to Ella for being the gold standard of what a student-athlete can be.

To view some photos of Ella Lesnever, click on the Facebook link here: Facebook