“Go Army, Beat Navy” gets another vote as CIF state champion Gavin Santoso registers for fall 2025

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The United States Military Academy has gained another commitment and another voice in the cry “Go Army. Beat Navy.” Gavin Santoso from Arcadia, California, has been accepted to attend West Point in the fall of 2025.

Santoso, who attends Loyola High School, recently competed in the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section (CIF-SS) Division I Championship. The junior made the finals in both individual events, placing 17th in the 50 freestyle with a time of 21.81 and 7th in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 55.99. Santoso was also a key figure on two of Loyola’s relay teams. In the 200 individual medley, he posted the third fastest split time of the A final (San Marino’s Daniel Li led the field with a time of 23.99), while his team took second place with a time of 1:29.65 and was awarded All-American honors.

Loyola finished one place higher in the 200 m freestyle relay, as the team from Andrew Brown (20.66), Ray Liu (20.41), Santoso (20.93) and Edward Kim (20.57) took the gold medal and another All-American Automatic Honors in a time of 1:22.57, just 0.1 ahead of St. Margarita. Loyola finished the meet in second place, scoring 345 points, just behind St. Margarita’s 382. At the state meet, Santoso was seeded 14th in the 100 breaststroke, but posted two consecutive personal bests of 55.81 in the preliminary heats and 55.44 in the finals to place 10th overall. In Loyola’s relay teams, which were seeded 2nd in the 200 individual medley and took first place in the 200 freestyle, Santoso ran 24.38 to help Loyola to the win, topping Santa Margarita Catholic by 0.02 points, 1:29.49 to 1:29.51. In the 200 m freestyle, Santoso needed a time of 20.71 and the team finished third with a time of 1:23.21.

In addition to swimming for his high school, Santoso also competes year-round at Rose Bowl Aquatics. At the CA/NV Speedo Sectional Championships last December, Santoso won the B final of the 100 breaststroke in a personal best of 55.88, securing a Furutres cut for 2024. He also holds cuts from this year for the 200 breaststroke (2:04.51) and 100 butterfly (50.35).

Best SCY times

• 50 Free Spins – 21.46
• 100 Breast – 55.44
• 200 Breaststroke – 2:04.51
• 100 m butterfly – 50.35
• 200 layers – 1:55.54

Army plays in the Patriot League, a DI mid-major, and finished second in the last championships with 1589 points behind Navy, which scored 1639.5 points. Army is coached by head coach Brandt Nigrowho coached Army to its first win over Navy in over 30 years in 2022. Although Santoso is still a junior, his best times are already worthy of a conference finals appearance. His personal best in the 100 breaststroke of 55.41 would have earned him 19th place; last year, the Patriot League swam A, B and C finals with eight swimmers each. Santoso would have also nabbed the last spot in the C final of the 200, as his 2:04.51 would have edged out the 2:05.51 that had earned him 24th place.

Santoso will join a program that has a strong breaststroke pedigree, as Army placed two swimmers in the A final of the 100 and filled half the lanes (4 of 8) in the 200. Leading the pack was Kohen Rankinwho swept all events, winning the 100m in 52.28 and the 200m in 1:54.22. Both were not only personal bests, but also fast enough to qualify for the NCAA. Rankin finished 28th in the 100m (52.40) and 30th in the 200m (1:55.10). Rankin is only a sophomore, so he will likely compete in the same spot as Santoso for a year.

Rankin was one of five swimmers representing the Army at the U.S. Olympic qualifiers, finishing 56th in the 100-meter breaststroke with a time of 1:02.28. Kal Hahnwho just finished his first year at West Point, finished 73rd in the 200-meter breaststroke (2:18.25) and is likely to have a two-year overlap with Santoso.

In addition to Santoso, other participants will also attend West Point in 2025 Lewis Esterley, Eli Edmondson, Tanner Innis, Matt FortsonAnd Dylan Bonillawho also calls California his home.

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