Photo by Bobby R. Hester
Photo by Bobby R. Hester

Men’s Swimming & Diving Packs Bags for CCCAA State Championships

The Riverside City College men's swimming & diving squad placed third in the Orange Empire Conference (OEC) Championships last week to cap off conference action.  After hauling in the bronze medal, the Tigers saw three individual swimmers and five relay teams qualify for the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) State Championships.

Freshman Javier Bernal, sophomore Farouk Zaoui, and freshman Alexandre Piron each qualified for three events to highlight the Tigers.

Bernal helms the trio after qualifying for the 200 Fly (1:51.44), the 200 IM (1:54.15), and 400 IM (4:07.90). His 200 Fly time ranks tops in the state to make him a favorite for gold in this event.

Zaoui, who was the 2017 CCCAA State Swimmer of the Meet, will return for three events. He will compete in the 200 Fly (1:56.32), the 400 IM (4:13.43), and the 500 Free (4.49.17). Piron will also compete in the three events being the 50 Free (21.20), the 100 Fly (49.52), and the 100 Free (46.06).

Furthermore, the Tigers qualified five relay teams in the 200 Free (1.28.21), 400 Medley (3:30.80), 200 Medley (1:38.12), 800 Free (7:02.04) and 400 Free (3:11.00).

The state championships will be hosted at De Anza College beginning on Thursday, May 5th. Stay tuned to www.rccathletics.com for further information.