CAMERO DOES IT ALL FOR ROYAL HE COULD QUALIFY FOR FOUR SECTION FINALS.

Byline: Ross Siler Staff Writer

SIMI VALLEY - There are two distinct groups of goals that Royal High of Simi Valley sophomore swimmer Juan Diego Camero has set for himself: the ones that are big and the ones that are bigger.

For now, Camero wants to swim on two Southern Section championship relay teams, advance to the section finals in the 100-yard freestyle and 100 breaststroke and, eventually, help lift Royal back to the top of the Marmonte League.

For later, Camero wants to return to Colombia, the country in which he was raised until age 5, settle somewhere near the coast and try to start a club team for boys like himself to play water polo and swim.

``I definitely want to (go back),'' said Camero, who has returned to Colombia three times since moving to Simi Valley. ``I'm going to at least finish high school first, then see wherever we go from there as far as college.

``I just like it a lot better there for some reason. It just feels like it's really my culture. That's where I'm from.''

There's no reason not to believe in Camero, who started swimming with Conejo Simi Aquatics as a 9-year-old and has become one of Royal's two team captains. The Highlanders finished fifth in the league last year but improved to second in Camero's second season.

Camero has filled more roles with the team than he can count - helping coach Steve Snyder fill out his meet sheet, serving as Peruvian transfer Jeremy Sotomayor's de facto translator, unloading boxes after teammate Robert Lubell's move from Camarillo and winning races in the meantime.

``He is one of these guys that competes with a lot of passion,'' Snyder said of Camero. ``That's a coach's dream. You don't have to do a lot to motivate him.''

With an injured shoulder, Camero finished 17th - one spot out of returning for the finals - in the 100 butterfly at last year's section preliminaries. He figures to be busy this time around, however, swimming two events plus two relays with friends Lubell, Tyler McClure and Sotomayor.

Camero grew up swimming with Lubell and McClure through CSA and knew the three would form a strong core at Royal. What he didn't know was that Sotomayor, a junior, would be coming in late January to live with his cousins in Simi Valley.

``We knew we were going to have three really good guys,'' Camero said. ``But you need four for a relay.''

Sotomayor was the fourth. Now Royal's 200 medley relay is on track to be one of the top three seeds at the section championships, and the 400 freestyle relay also should qualify for finals. Not bad considering three of the four members are underclassmen.

``We can all go under 49 (seconds) in the 400,'' said Camero, whose team posted a season-best 3 minutes, 21.60 seconds Wednesday against Thousand Oaks. ``In the medley, I think we could also swim each other's strokes and do just as well.''

Then there is the talk of Camero someday returning to Colombia. Although Camero's father, Juan Carlos, was raised three hours down a mountain from the nearest pool, his son would like nothing more than return to start an aquatics program.

``I always had in mind for him to do sports,'' Juan Carlos Camero said. ``We tried baseball and soccer, but I felt swimming was the most complete sport for him.''

Camero said his memories of Colombia are still fresh. He attended a private school in Bogota before leaving for California. And Camero still has numerous friends in the country. He also has a new one in Simi Valley from neighboring Peru.

Through Sotomayor, Camero has learned about the club teams that exist in South America. They are often attached to high schools and are more popular than Camero once thought. Sotomayor had played water polo, as an example, several times while growing up.

``I'd like to go down there and see who Jeremy knows and see whether we can get something going,'' Camero said. ``From what Jeremy tells me, water polo is not necessarily new.''

The Royal boys will swim Friday in the Marmonte championships at Rancho Simi pool. Camero, meanwhile, will keep dreaming on. The bigger, the better.

Ross Siler, [phone]

ross.siler(at)dailynews.com

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Royal High sophomore Juan Diego Camero excels in freestyle, breaststroke and relays. He hopes to someday bring the Highlanders back to the top in the Marmonte League.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer