Two members of the women’s swim team have qualified for state and one has a conference record under her belt from the South Coast Conference Championships on April 17 and 18.
Freshman swimmer Amanda Loya has been trying to break the conference record since the beginning of the season and now holds the Cerritos College 100 meter breaststroke record.
“It was really exciting. It was something that I wanted to do from the get-go, ” she said. “I knew 1:09 was my best time coming in, so I did whatever it took.”
While Loya holds her record, fellow swimmer Carla Harvey is working toward a conference record of her own.
Head coach Sergio Macias feels that having that record is something special for any swimmer to earn.
Harvey is competing in the 100 meter backstroke and was so close to breaking the record at the SCC Championships.
“Last year I was .02 (away from breaking the record) and this year, to look up and see I was .01 (away). I was really mad, but I have another chance to break it at state,” Harvey said.
Harvey is also .5 seconds away from the 50 meter backstroke record, which was set in 2008 with a time of 28.29 seconds.
Loya matches Harvey’s ambition for the upcoming championships, even though she has already has one record to her name.
“I want to break the 200 individual medley record,” Loya said. She is two seconds away from her second record and feels that if it wasn’t for a mishap with her glasses, she would be able to easily drop those two seconds from her time.
The state championships are from May 1 to May 3 and Loya is starting to feel the nerves of how big this competition is for her.
“I am really nervous and anxious because there is a lot of good competition with my events that I am swimming,” she said. “It’s very nerve wrecking.”
Although the team did not get a relay to qualify for state like Macias wanted to, he feels that that the season went great based on the potential they had.
“Overall our goal as a swim team is to improve throughout the season and get your best time at the end of the season,” he said. Cerritos College placed sixth in the SCC Championship with 217 points on the first day of the event and finished in fifth place with 430 points on the second day.
“I’m so excited. Me and Amanda (Loya) are like sisters,” Harvey said. “She just became my other half this season, so I am really happy that we both made it.”
