In the first Western State Conference meet of the season the Ventura College men's and women's swimming teams produced strong performances. The men's team finished first out of the four teams participating with an overall score of 142, while the women's team was second among the five teams participating with a score of 101 just behind Santa Barbara.
On the men's side the Pirates were able to produce wins from several swimmers, topped by Austin Hammond who claimed a pair of first place finishes. Hammond won the 200 yard Individual Medley with a winning time of 2:09.34 and had a third place finish in the 100 yard butterfly. His second win came in the 1000 yard freestyle race with a narrow victory over teammate Thomas Bunker, Hammond finished in 10:27.26 while Bunker finished in 10:27.40. Bunker did earn a win of his own claiming first in the 500 yard freestyle and another second place finish in the 200 yard freestyle. James Heckman won the 100 yard backstroke for the Pirates men's team. Jack Pickett was a winner in the 50 yard freestyle in 22.84 seconds. Sam Robertson picked up a second place finish for the men in the 500 yard freestyle. The 200 yard medley team of Marcus Rodarte, James Abernathy, Derek Krzyski and Pickett won their race in 1:42.90. Finally, the men's 200 yard freestyle relay team was second on the strength of the swimming from Heckman, Parker Larriue, Keaton Hess and Kenneth Quach.
For the Pirates women's team they were topped by several swimmers who brought home second and third place finishes. Started by the women's 200 yard medley relay team of Raquel Rodriguez, Allison Herman, Maria Petraitis and Paige Treloar-Ballard were second place finishers just four seconds off the winning time. Allison Olney was a third place finisher in the 200 yard freestyle and a second place finisher in the 500 yard freestyle . Delani Clark took a second place in the 1000 yard freestyle ahead of teammate Rodriguez who finished in third place. Treloar-Ballard was a second place finisher in the 100 yard butterfly. Rodriguez was also a third place finisher in the 100 yard backstroke. Herman came in third in the 100 yard breastroke. Finally, the women's 200 yard freestyle relay team were first place finishers, the team comprised of Quinn Cotter, Christina Tellez, Maeve Flynn and Cheyanne Irigoyen.
The Pirates win on the men's side was their first of the season. Both teams will travel to San Luis Obispo for Thursday Mar. 10, Friday Mar. 11 and Saturday Mar. 12 to take part in the Cuesta Sprint Meet over those three days. Then on Saturday Mar. 19 the Pirates will take part in the second WSC meet of the season.