Pirates capture first at OEC Meet
MISSION VIEJO -- Mission accomplished for the Orange Coast College men's swim team as the Pirates headed down to Saddleback College and topped the field at the first Orange Empire Conference meet of the 2024 season on Friday.
Led by a pair of triple wins from Christian Perez and three wins from Gideon Stemmons, the Pirates took first overall with 682 points, followed by Golden West (568), Riverside (400), Saddleback (400), Cypress (17) and Fullerton (7).
Perez showed off his versatility by taking first overall in the 200-yard individual medley, touching the wall with a time of 1:58.02, just ahead of Pirate teammate Kevin Li, who placed second with a 1:59.18. From there, he also took first in the 200 breaststroke (2:06.19) and the 100 breaststroke (57.47).
Stemmons took the top spot in the 100 backstroke with a time of 53.96 as well as the 100 freestyle, touching the wall at 46.19. Completing the triple-win, Stemmons also sprinted his way to a winning time of 21.3 in the 50 freestyle.
Perez joined Masa Araki, Ryan Xu and Dylan Bertino to take first in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:36.45.
Distance swimmer Brandon Samaniego outlasted the competition and won the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:53.23.
In the 200 butterfly, it was a 1-2 finish for the Pirates with Li taking the top time at 1:58.62, followed closely by Araki (2:00.93).
Other top-three performances from the Pirates came from the 200 freestyle relay team of Araki, Stemmons, Jackson Bryson and Aiden Morris (2nd, 1:27.64), Xu in the 100 butterfly (2nd, 53.34) and 50 free (3rd, 21.41), Samaniego in the 1,650 freestyle (2nd, 17:34.84), Roman Christenot in the 100 breaststroke (2nd, 1:01.13), Gavin McNeal in the 500 free (3rd, 5:01.19) and 1,650 free (3rd, 17:57.32), Bertino in the 200 free (3rd, 1:50.69) Brenden Bellavia in the 100 back (3rd, 58.89) and the 100 free (3rd, 48.44) and Morris in the 100 butterfly (3rd, 53.69).
Coast will head out to Riverside City College on Friday and Saturday for the RCC Invitational, beginning at 9:30 a.m.
