Riverside City women set early pace in swim and dive season
MISSION VIEJO - The Orange Empire Conference swim and dive schedule kicked off this past weekend at Saddleback College and the race to win the OEC title looks like a two-team battle. Riverside City College and Orange Coast College dominated the opening conference meet of the season.
The Orange Empire Conference (OEC) has long been one of the top conferences in the state in women’s swimming, winning eight state titles since 2010, and 26 total titles since the sport was introduced in 1978. Orange Coast has been a dominant force since the beginning, winning 21 state championships.
Orange Coast has a serious challenger for the OEC title in 2025 in Riverside City College, who won the opening meet at Saddleback on Friday. The Tigers used a deep lineup to pile up points despite winning only four individual events for the day. Yosra Elseifi was the first winner of the day for Riverside City when she captured the grueling 1,650 Freestyle event (19:33.90). Brianna Bandoc followed with a win in the 100 Individual Medley in a time of 1:10.47. Later in the day the Tigers captured two more individual titles as Kaia Boone won the 200 Breaststroke (2:41.95) and Isadora Taylor won the 200 Butterfly (2:33.30).
Orange Coast may have finished second in the team points, but the Pirates once again look very deep and talented. OCC captured 10 wins in the pool on Thursday and Friday, including wins in both the 200 Freestyle Relay (1:43.47) and 200 Medley Relay (1:55.31). Orange Coast won both diving events on Thursday with Grace Peterson capturing both the 1-meter dive (187.15) and 3-meter dive (170.75). The Pirates dominated the top spot on the podium on Friday, winning six more individual events. Emma Steffens was the breadwinner, winning three times. Steffens won the 400 Individual Medley (5:00.14), 100 Backstroke (1:04.40) and 200 Backstroke (2:21.79). Maya Abu Salem was also a force, winning both the 500 Freestyle (5:47.39) and 200 Freestyle (2:07.50). Kiley Kawai also picked up a win for the Pirates in the 200 Individual Medley (2:27.65).
Despite her team finishing fourth in the team event, Saddleback’s Julia Reid had one of the most impressive meets of any individual on Friday. Reid won three separate events for the Bobcats, capturing the 50 Freestyle (25.51), 100 Breaststroke (1:11.05) and 100 Freestyle (56.63).
Cypress College’s Isabelle Neri was the lone other winner on the day, winning the 100 Butterfly (1:08.41).
TEAM SCORES
1) Riverside City, 851.5
2) Orange Coast, 720.5
3) Golden West, 232
4) Saddleback, 141
5) Cypress, 101
6) Fullerton, 79
(Brad Hoiseth, Orange Empire Conference)