Early Meets Already Producing Top Times In SCC Women's Swim

The South Coast Conference women's swimming and diving season is underway, but in a sport where strong times are built on to peak late in the season, the first two meets of the year--the El Camino College Triple Distance on Feb. 3 and the South Coast Conference Pentathlon held Feb. 9--produced a number of extraordinary times. 

ECC's Iyanah Samayoa, a freshman, obliterated the school record in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:07.88 and then did it again in the 200 breastroke in 2:29.35. In the process, she ended 43-year-old records in the two events held previously by Sue Saatkamp in 1981, but Saatkamp did that at the conference and state championships--not in the very first meet of the year like Samayoa.

The Warriors four-women unit of Diana Nguyen, Samayoa, Mia Park, and Raina Henty-Dodd also set a pool record in the 200 medley relay at 1:56.36, then they bested another pool record in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:44.39. Samayo also swam a pool record in the 50 freestyle (32.01). 

Park, who was Co-Swimmer of the Meet with three state gold medals at the 3C2A Championships last year, scored a pool record at the SCC Pentathlon of 2:12.22 in the 200 individual medley, beating her mark of last March by .42 of a second while recording the second-fast time in El Camino history. Park also won the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke at the meet.

Mt. San Antonio's Salma Valle set a pool record in winning the 100 freestyle in 53.40 seconds. The Mounties 200 medley relay of Paige Fast, Eden Kennedy, Elleanna Ramos and Genevieve Niko had an exceptional second-place finish to ECC at 1:58.68. Other strong swims were turned in by Ramos (1:00.74) for second in the 100 butterfly, Fast's 1:02.70 for second in the 100 backstroke, Park's 1:10.86 for second to teammate Samayoa in the 100 breaststroke, and another second by Park in the 100 freestyle (54.39). 

Long Beach City's 200 medley relay of Emmy Escoto, Alexis DeAlba, Elizabeth Jung, and Sklyar Dose was worthy in third at 2:01.52. 

LBCC's Isabella Shead was third in the 200 IM (2:20.76), DeAlba third in the 100 breaststroke (1:17.30), then in a row in the 100 butterly were top times for East Los Angeles' Camila Zacarias sixth (1:08.48), Pasadena City's Emily Padilla seventh (1:08.81), and Cerritos' Camila Oliveira eighth (1:08.87). Chaffey's Julia Garcia placed 17th, and Rio Hondo's Joy Montenegro was 24th in the same event.