By Marcus Tolero

The City College of San Francisco Swimming Team will be sending two of its very best to this weekend’s California Community College Athletic Association’s Men's and Women's Swim & Dive State Championships at East Los Angeles College. Freshman Raquel Pea and Sophomore Daniela Fiestas-Paredas will both look to become the school’s first ever individual state champions.

Pea will compete in the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, and 100 backstroke. Fiestas-Paredas will participate in the 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke.

It’s been four years since CCSF sent swimmers to the State Championships. Head Coach Phong Pham believes Pea and Fiestas-Paredas have a legitimate chance at making the finals and contending for a championship.

“Their performance picked up towards the middle of the swim season. They are peaking at the right time at the end of the season. Overall, both are very talented swimmers and have a legitimate chance at improving their individual times and earning All-American Honors,” Pham said.

Pea is fresh off a dominant performance at the Coast Conference Championships. She finished in first place after posting finals times of 23.96 in the 50 freestyle and 53.31 in the 100 freestyle (she also finished fifth in the 100 butterfly). Fiestas-Paredas also had a strong showing at the Coast Conference Championships. Her finals times of 2:35:21 in the 200 breaststroke and 1:11:94 in the 100 breaststroke landed her in third and fourth place, respectively.

“I think Raquel has a very good chance in the 50 and 100 free. If she swims those races perfectly, she has a very good chance at bringing home the championship in either one or two events,” Pham said. “Daniela has a good chance at making the finals.”

Meet Information:

CCCAA Swim and Dive State Championships

East Los Angeles College May 5-7 Complete Meet Schedule:

http://www.cccaasports.org/Swim/2016State_PsychSheet.PDF