PCC Swimmers Dive Into 2015 Season

A season after watching its first state individual champion in Shannon Cheung, the Pasadena City College women’s swim team hopes another one will emerge in 2015. Letterman Connie Peng is one who could challenge as she led the 12-women team during the season-opening SCC Pentathlon meet held February 13 at Rio Hondo College.

Peng placed second overall in both the 100-yard butterfly (1:03.04) and 100 backstroke (1:04.35). Last year, Peng (Arcadia High) was the conference’s Tri-Swimmer of the Year along with Cheung, now at UCLA. As a freshman, Peng set three school records in the 50 and 100 backstroke, and the 100 butterfly. She also was a member of three different PCC record-setting relay swims. At the state meet, she placed second in the 100 back and 100 fly.

Also part of those relay records and a member of the best finish of any team in Lancers women’s swim history in sixth place at the ’14 CCCAA Championships is returning sophomore Tiffany Wong. From Mark Keppel High, Wong opened the season by placing second in the 200 individual medley (2:20.6). She took fifth in the 100 freestyle (59.21) and sixth in the 100 butterfly (1:06.08).

Other returning swimmers are Courtney Fukushima (Keppel HS), Victoria Leflang (Pasadena High), and Jovana Meza (Gabrielino). Fukushima’s best swim at the starter meet was eighth place in the 200 IM at 2:27.82. Leflang was ninth in the 100 breaststroke (1:18.85).

The team’s top freshman appears to be Liza Echeverria (South Pasadena), who was in the top four places in three different individual events. She placed third in the 200 IM (2:22.37) and fourth in both the 100 butterfly (1:05.51) and 100 breaststroke (1:16.09).

The rest of the Lancers are freshmen Nancy Chen (Keppel), Tulasi Hilder-Manahan (Crescenta Valley), Phoebe Lee (Keppel), Deborah McCandliss (John Marshall), Megan Mora (Cajon), and Nawal Ridouh (international student from Paris, France).

“We’ve been fortunate to have some great swimmers the past few seasons and we have a pretty strong top three this year in Connie, Tiffany and Liza,” said head coach Terry Stoddard, in his 16th season directing the program. “We have to work to do get some of our other swimmers to reach their best.”

PCC MEN’S SWIM TEAM

Sophomore Mohammad Esmaeilian heads Stoddard’s 11-swimmer PCC men’s team.

Esmaeilian (from Iran), last year’s No. 1 swimmer, won the 100 freestyle event at the ’15 season-opening SCC Pentathlon with a mark of 48.45 seconds.

The top freshman looks to be Samuel Sanchez (Granada Hills Charter HS), who took second overall in the 200 IM (2:03.64), third in the 100 freestyle (49.52) and sixth in the 100 backstroke (1:00.45).

Sophomore returners Ryan Caceras (Crescenta Valley), Victor Torres (Maywood Academy), and Brendan Lee (Alhambra) join incoming freshmen Rene Gonzalez (Kennedy), Keano Ochoa (John Marshall), Carlos Palomino (Pasadena HS), Jorge Perez (Eagle Rock), Bijan Rezvani (Glendale) and Daniel Medrano.

Neither the men’s or women’s teams has a diver this season.

The PCC swim teams will be back in action on February 20-21 at the Mt. SAC Invitational in Walnut.