The Punahou School girls swim team smashed six state records en route to a dominating win in yesterday's Local Motion State Swimming & Diving Championships at Central O'ahu Regional Park.

The Buffanblu amassed 82 points. 'Iolani placed second with 34, followed by Kamehameha and Hawai'i Preparatory Academy, both with 25.

Punahou's boys team faced stiffer competition as it edged runner-up 'Iolani, 61-59. Kamehameha placed third with 43.

"This is coachspeak, but we couldn't ask for a better performance from these kids," said Punahou head coach Jeff Meister. "We told them to reach high and they did."

The heavily favored Punahou girls were led by Christel Simms, who broke her own state records (both set during Friday's trials) in the 100- and 200-yard freestyle events, and joined Brittany Beauchan, Rachel Cote and Michelle Yoshida in breaking the records for the 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays.

Cote, a junior, also broke a 24-year-old record by Punahou's Steph Lister in the 100 backstroke (57.97 seconds) with a time of 57.46.

(Additionally, Beauchan, a senior, had set the 100 breaststroke record Friday in 1:04.04; she finished in 1:04.09 yesterday).

Simms broke the 1-minute, 50-second barrier in the 200 freestyle for the first time on Friday, setting a state record with 1:49.92. Yesterday, she finished in 1:49.25. In the 100 freestyle, she improved her record-setting Friday time of 50:54 by .39 seconds, just ahead of teammate Yoshida. Yoshida won the 50 freestyle with a time of 23.75, less than a half-second off the state record.

"It was a really successful day," Simms said. "We're racing against the best teams, and we did a great job."

The Buffanblu girls came in with high expectations for the relay events, and they didn't disappoint. Their 1:44.03 in the 200 medley broke Waiakea's four-year-old record by just .15 seconds, but they smashed their own record from last year (1:36.80) with a time of 1:35.43.

Overall, Punahou's girls won nine of the 11 events in which they competed; they were not allowed to compete in the 400 freestyle relay after being disqualified in Friday's trials.

The diving events were won by Maui senior Chelsea Machida (357.45 points) and Kamehameha junior James Keawe (368.80).

The Buffanblu boys won the 100 backstroke, 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay, and earned points with top-five finishes in the other nine events.

According to 'Iolani head coach Brian Lee, the turning point came with Punahou's victory in the 200 freestyle relay, the ninth boys event of the day. Punahou earned six points for the relay win while second-place 'Iolani's got four.

"That was the difference," Lee said. "We knew that Punahou is very fast and when they got that one, it was a huge swing."

The teams were virtually tied coming into the final exchange, but Buffanblu junior Brett Gomes pulled away from 'Iolani sophomore Geramiah Simoes in the final length to give Punahou a .52-second victory.

"I thought we'd have more of a lead, but we were tied when I dove in," Gomes said. "So I put my head down and said, 'I'm not going to lose.' "

While Lee saw the relay as pivotal, 'Iolani senior Brett Johnson couldn't help feeling like he had cost the Raiders a victory two events later when he finished just .02 seconds behind Punahou's Josh Cutts for third place in the 100 backstroke.

"I feel like it's my fault," said Johnson, a team leader. "If I had beaten him, that would have been a two-point swing."

Nonsense, said his coach.

"He shouldn't feel like that," Lee said. "These kids really love their school, and to represent their school means a lot to them. They really put out the effort today and I'm very proud of their performance."

It was a day of outstanding performances all around.

Kealakehe's Daniel Coackley won the 50 freestyle in 20.89, barely missing his own record of 20.46 set during Friday's trials. Punahou's Beauchan also just missed breaking her day-old record in the 100 breaststroke (1:04.04) by just .05 seconds.

For some, the victories weren't necessarily counted in the win column. Sophomore Noe Vargas of Hawai'i Prep failed to qualify for the finals of the 100 backstroke last year. Yesterday, she completed the event in 1:01.37 (just the second time she's broken 1:02) to finish second behind Cote's record-setting performance.

"Before the race, I thought about how how hard we'd trained this season," said Vargas. "And all season, I kept thinking about states. So I told myself, 'I'm here and I've got to do it.' "

Punahou's Cote could certainly relate. She struggled through mononucleosis during last year's championships and had to wait a year for another shot at the record.

"During the race, I just tried to focus on what it was going to feel like to touch the wall," she said. "I was just trying to race against that record."

For Cote and her Punahou teammates, the title sweep was an appropriately unifying payoff for a season of collective hard work.

"We really pulled together this season," Cote said. "We're a team, no matter how much people want to view this as an individual sport."

Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.