The PCC men and women’s swim teams did not let rain, hail or lightning stop them from performing well at the Mt. SAC Invitational on Saturday. “The meet was interrupted twice by lightning,” said Coach Terry Stoddard.
The teams swam well overall. They even swam better after the second break, according to Stoddard.
Highlights of the meet included freshman Baldwin Ngai’s first place victory in the men’s 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:14:00 and freshman Sharif Alaoui’s second place in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:04:85. Sharif also came in fifth in the 100 freestyle.
“Though some of the schools pulled out of the meet after the thunder, our team, along with some others, stayed and finished it,” explained returning swimmer Matiana Coulson.
Sophomore Cindy Huynh said: “The weather was insane! We swam through rain, hail and wind. Considering all that, the girls maintained positive attitudes and it showed in each of our performances.”
PCC’s swim team competed against nineteen schools at the invitational.
The men’s team finished twelfth overall and the women’s team finished fourteenth.
“I thought we did better than I expected,” said Stoddard.
By swimming an average of six events per individual swimmer, the meet helped the coach and team see what events were right for each swimmer for the season.
“On the men’s team, we are counting on the freshmen for depth,” said Stoddard as he explained that the leadership would be coming from the retuning swimmers.
This year there are 16 men on the team, 12 of whom are freshman.
On the women’s team, Huynh carried out the best finish as she came in 10th in the 100 butterfly.
Returning swimmers Jade Wilia, Shannon Adams and Merry Sanders also performed well.
“We have quite a few sophomores, including our entire 200 free relay [team] which got first at conference. We’re hoping to defend our title and qualify for state as a relay team,” said Huynh. Five of the 13 girls are returning swimmers.
Last year the women’s team finished third and the men fifth in the South Coast Conference.
With the season ahead of them, the team is training hard to defeat these spots.
“I am expecting the team to do better this season. I would like the team to get in the top two spots and the way the girls are moving I think it’s achievable,” said Stoddard.
Pasadena City College swimmer Sharif Alaoui practicing for the next swim meet against Mount San Antonio College and Chaffey College at Mount San Antonio College this friday. (Brian Warouw)
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