By Pristine Tompkin
After winning first place in the Chaffey tournament on March 11-12, the men’s and women’s swim teams continue to be the teams to watch out for as they prepare for conference championships in April.
The men won four out of the five relays, while the women won three out of the five to clinch the tournament victories.
The men’s team demonstrated strong performances from four swimmers, with one coming close to breaking a school record.
Sophomore Alex Durham came within :01 second from breaking a school record in the 200 butterfly, according to head coach Jason Northcott.
The current RCC record for the men’s 200 butterfly is held by Steve Bahr with a time of 1:55:49. This record has been held since 1998, according to Northcott. Durham also won the 200 and 400 yard IM.
Sophomore Adrien Deloffre won the 100 yard breast and the 200 yard breast. He also came in second in the 50 yard freestyle.
Deloffre said stamina is key for upcoming meets.
“The fact that we swam around 5-6 races a day is a good preparation for next meets,” he said. “We are tired, but I think that working even more on the technique would be a good thing to consider in order to swim faster for the next meet.”
Freshman Maxence Bouvier and sophomore Garret Shimko added to the team win by placing first in the 100 yard freestyle, while Shimko won the 200 yard freestyle.
Despite the first place wins Northcott’s main focus is the upcoming schedule.
“I’m fine with the way the team swam,” he said. “At this point of the season, the focus is on getting prepared for conference championships and the state championships…the only thing that is important is that we continue to work towards the state meet. As long as we properly prepare, we should have a strong state meet.”
The women’s team also displayed a strong performance with three swimmers each winning two of their events.
Freshman Citlali Salazar won the 500 yard freestyle and the 200 yard freestyle and freshman Mary Myers won the 100 yard and 200 yard backstroke.
Freshman Kelly Perez also helped lead the Tigers by finishing first in the 1650 yard freestyle and placing second in the 400 yard individual medley.
Women’s head coach Doug Finfrock was pleased with their performance, despite unforeseen circumstances.
“I thought the women swam very well at the Chaffey Invite,” he said. “Especially considering that the weather was rainy the first day and cold the second day.”
Another RCC standout for the women is freshman Emily Martin.
Martin placed third in the 200 yard IM and 100 yard freestyle, fourth in the 100 yard breaststroke and fifth in the 100 yard fly.
The Tigers are scheduled to have their next meet at Fullerton College on March 25.
