Orange Coast College

Swimming: Pirates dominate competition at OEC Meet

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- The Orange Coast College men's and women's swim team set the pace from start to finish en route to winning the 2009 Orange Empire Conference Swim Championships this past weekend at Golden West College.

On the women's side, the Pirates left plenty of water between them and the competition, posting 968.5 points, with Riverside College (578) a distant second.

On the men's side, it was more of the same as OCC swam away from the rest of the field with meet-best 905 points. Golden West finished second with 564 points, while Saddleback (476) took third.

With wins in the 50-yard freestyle (24.62 seconds), 100, freestyle (53.17), 200 freestyle (1:55.01) and a participant in OCC's championship 200 freestyle relay (1:38.66) and 400 freestyle relay teams (3:37.03), Danielle Levery was named the OEC Female Swimmer of the Meet for the Pirates.

With another strong showing in the diving competitions, Coast earned several honors from the OEC Meet. In the 1-meter diving event, Mishka Hulka (213.50) and Jamie Pearce (200.75) notched the top-two spots, while in the 3-meter event, Pearce (206.30) edged out Hulka (203.75) for the conference title. Their performances earned the duo OEC Co-Divers of the Year.

OCC women's swim coach Anthony Iacopetti earned OEC Coach of the Year honors by guiding the Pirates to victory.

On the men's side, Chris Delgado earned OEC Male Diver of the Year by winning both the 1-meter (266.90) and the 3-meter (269.85) events.

For complete results from last weekend's meet, click HERE.

Next up for the Pirates will be the 2009 State Swimming Championships, held at Long Beach's Belmont Plaza, beginning on Thursday at 10 a.m.