THE TIMES 1993 SPRING ALL-COUNTY TEAMS : Team Player Gets Individual Honor : Swimmer of the year: Freestyle specialist Michelle Perry led El Toro to Division I championship.

It’s safe to say that the majority of attention the El Toro girls’ swim team received this season centered on senior Michelle Perry.

All of it was deserved.

Perry offered the kind of team leadership, in and out of the pool, that led the Chargers to an undefeated South Coast League season, an unprecedented eighth league title and ultimately, their first Southern Section Division I swimming and diving team championship.

For her accomplishments, she has been named The Times Orange County Swimmer of the Year.

Perry will be remembered most for her individual feats at the section meet, where she won her third consecutive 100-yard freestyle title, became the fastest in the field with a tie in the 50 free, and was named co-swimmer of the meet.

But she will remember the night she helped El Toro win the team title.

“To be remembered as the first team in school history that won CIF, that’s so great,” Perry said at the time.

Clearly, the team concept isn’t something that she takes lightly. In fact, the UCLA-bound senior said that without the inspiration of a team title to spur her on, her individual victories may not have happened.

“Winning the team championship was the highlight of my year,” Perry said. “Without the goal of winning as a team, I wouldn’t have done as well individually. The team always seemed to get me up.”