The Orange Empire Conference (OEC) swim and dive programs have had a couple of opportunities to show off their talent in 2022 and right now it seems as if Orange Coast College could have a leg up on the rest of the OEC field through a couple of events in men's swimming. The Pirates dominated this past week in their own pool, shrugging off challenges from Golden West College, Saddleback College and Riverside City College in cruising to a win.
Orange Coast won seven individual events and both relays, running up 602.5 points to defeat second place Golden West (485) by 183.5 points. Defending champion Saddleback was in third place with 332 points after capturing the 2021 OEC title for their first conference title in 37 years.
Last year only five programs participated in men's swimming at the finals. This season Riverside City College returns to the pool and the Tigers finished fourth this past Friday. Cypress College finished fifth on Friday with Fullerton College finishing sixth.
Orange Coast has been a force over the years, winning the state title in 2018 and five state titles since 2006. The Pirates appear to have reloaded following the COVID-19 year of 2021 where roster numbers were low. The Pirates had 23 athletes in the water this past week, led by Ethan Smith, Tatsuki Inoue, Mathew Simpson, Dane Howell and Chris Erdosi.
Golden West has bulked up its roster this season, with close to 25 competitors on Friday. The Rustlers have won four of the past seven state titles and 16 state championships since 1985. Golden West has one of the more talented individuals in the state in Srboljub Filipovic, who blew away the field in both the 100 Breaststroke and 200 Breaststroke this past week. Another winner for Golden West this past week included Gen Fujita in the 1,650 Freestyle.
Saddleback had a great season in 2021 and the water polo program finished third in the state during the fall. The Bobcats are hoping the success carries over into the swim season this spring and had a solid outing on Friday at Orange Coast. Saddleback has a handful of guys that could challenge for conference titles, led by Jack Stevens. He finished first in one event on Friday and second in two others, making him a guy to watch at the end of the season.
Riverside City is attempting to bounce back from a dead season in 2021 when they didn't compete due to COVID-19. The Tigers had close to 10 athletes in the pool on Friday and did quite well considering the low number of athletes. RCC's brothers of Yanis and Ilias Massignan finished with 41 and 35 points, respectively, while Ben McCombs had 38 individual points at the meet.
Cypress College has one of the best swimmers in the state in Ethan Umpornpuckd. He finished first in two events last season, winning both the 200 Freestyle and 500 Freestyle races at the OEC finals. Umpornpuckd was up to his old tricks on Friday, finishing first in the 500 Freestyle while finishing third in both the 200 Freestyle and 100 Breaststroke.
Fullerton had a small lineup in 2021 but had a handful of athletes that performed well at the OEC Finals. Jonathan Villa finished second in both the 100-yard Fly and 500-yard Fly last year and looked sensational again last week, winning the 100 Fly while finishing third in the 200 Fly and fifth in the 500 Freestyle.
All of the programs from the Orange Empire Conference will compete again at Riverside City College on March 25.