The women’s swim team made City College history as it competed in its first meet Saturday, Feb. 15, at Ventura College.

The Vaqueros made quite a splash as they took to the waters for the Western State Conference Pentathlon.

“They did really well,” said head coach Brian “Chuckie” Roth. “They trained really hard; we had a lot of good performances.”

One of these good performances belonged to Rachelle Visser, who took second place in the overall meet and won the 100-yard backstroke.

Visser said focus is a key element that propels her through the water.

“I’ll swim faster if I notice that someone is getting closer, but most of the time I just focus on my own race and do my own thing,” Visser said.

Visser kicked her focus into gear to win the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:02.88.

“It felt really good,” Visser said. “It felt really smooth and I had the right speed.”

The rest of the Vaqueros swim team had the right speed as well.

Visser, Malin Wallmon, and Emily Foster finished fourth, fifth and sixth in the 100-yard breaststroke. Wallmon, with a time of 1:15.57, said her race felt strong.

“It was a good race,” Wallmon said. “I wasn’t that exhausted when I came in [to the finish line] and I felt good.”

Wallmon said she relies on her notes to prepare for a race, but they aren’t the kind you find written down on a piece of paper.

“I really like to play music,” Wallmon said. “I put my headphones in and get in the zone.”

City College continued to make itself known as Sienna Van Alphen took fourth place in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:05.23.

“It’s one of my favorites,” Van Alphen said. “I have a good time swimming it.”

Roth said his team is unique and has characteristics he didn’t see in the nine other city colleges participating today.

“Our girls are operating like a team,” Roth said. “The dynamic, the enthusiasm—that part is awesome.”

Roth also said his team is unlike the others because of their swimming history.

“A lot of these girls have been out of the water for some time,” Roth said. “It’s not like they came from high school straight to this. They have to teach their bodies how to swim fast again and we’re on that road to getting there.”

Roth said he is proud of his new team and happy with today’s competition.

“For a first year program, I think we put together a pretty good squad.”

Roth also shared his goals for the team and the overall season.

“If we could have 80 percent of our team swimming in the conference championship, that would be a great,” Roth said. “It would be a great measure of success for us.”

The swim team will head down to Ventura once again for WSC No. 1, Saturday, March 1, at Ventura College.