As Riverside City College celebrated its Orange Empire Conference Championship victory, freshman swimmer Eli Spencer Martinez stood alongside his teammates holding the trophy after a weekend that saw him earn Swimmer of the Meet honors and break two school records. But despite the personal accolades, the moment that meant the most to him was sharing the accomplishment with his team.
“What meant the most to me was winning and getting to hold the trophy with my boys,” Martinez said. “Nothing tops that feeling.”
At just 18 years old, Martinez has already made a major impact in his first season at Riverside City College. The psychology major graduated early from Redlands High School before joining RCC, where he quickly became one of the team’s standout swimmers. He is currently considering transfer opportunities at schools such as Cal Poly, UC Santa Barbara and Colorado Mesa.
Swimming first entered his life around the age of six or seven, when he began learning to swim for safety reasons. A few years later, after joining Riverside Aquatics Association (RAA), he began taking swimming more seriously and competing at a higher level.
While his success in the pool has been evident this season, Martinez said the biggest challenge throughout his swimming career has been the mental side of the sport.
“My biggest challenge of swimming has been the mental aspect of it,” he said. “I’ve had to take multiple breaks because of some personal issues with struggling mentally, but I always recover and put together some great swims at the end of each season.”
That resilience has become one of the defining parts of his approach to swimming. During the season, Martinez focuses heavily on aerobic and technique work early on before gradually transitioning into anaerobic and speed-focused training as major meets approach.
Outside motivation also plays a large role in his success. He credits his teammates, family, friends and coaches for helping push him forward, while elite swimmers such as Olympic champion Leon Marchand and Hungarian swimmer Hubert Kos inspire him to continue improving.
His mentality before races, however, is surprisingly yet effectively simple.
“My approach to handling stress or pressure before big races might seem odd, but I feel like the more I don’t care as much and trust the process in my training and what I did all season, really helps me not stress much,” Martinez said. “I really just have to treat it like any other race. I just want to win.”
That mindset paid off at the OEC Championships, where Martinez would place first in several races, while also breaking school records in the 500-yard freestyle and 200-yard backstroke en route to helping RCC win first place.
Heading into the meet, he admitted he did not have high expectations for himself because he did not feel fully rested entering the competition.
“I wasn’t thinking much heading into the OEC Championships because I was not tapered or rested properly and wanted to just go race with what I had,” Martinez said. “I was not expecting much and went in with the mindset that whatever happens happens.”
Despite those expectations, he still managed to post two personal best performances and play a major role in the school’s victory.
Beyond the competition, however, swimming has become something much more personal to him.
“Swimming means a lot to me,” Martinez said. “I feel like it shows how I have grown not only physically, but mentally as well. I’ve learned how to deal with failure a lot better and I am still improving.”
Outside the pool, Martinez enjoys spending time with his three dogs, playing music, video games and hanging out with his best friend Ben, whom he described as “like a brother” after more than 12 years of friendship.
Still, much of his life continues to revolve around the relationships built through swimming.
“It is also like having another family to me because I see my teammates and coaches almost as much as my own family,” he said.
His season would eventually come to an end at the California Community College State Championships, where Martinez competed against some of the top swimmers in the state and closed out a breakout freshman campaign at RCC.
Although the season has concluded, he continues training and preparing for the next stage of his swimming career, with goals of competing at the national level and eventually reaching the NCAA stage.
After a season filled with personal bests, school records and team success, Martinez said the experience has only strengthened both his confidence and love for the sport as he looks toward the future.
