4/28/08
MEN -- Starting with the first event on Thursday, Chaffey College Men's Swimming Team won the 200 freestyle relay and never looked back as they went on to an impressive victory at this year's South Coast Conference Championships.  Three days later, Chaffey found themselves on top with 791 points. 2nd thru 8th place went to Cerritos College (643), Long Beach City College (485), El Camino College (461), Mt San Antonio College (405), Pasadena City College (364), Rio Hondo College (125) and Los Angeles Trade Tech College (99).

 For the second year in a row, Panther's Akbar Nasution was selected as Conference Swimmer of the Year.  Nasution won his 3 individual events and was on 4 of Chaffey's winning relay teams.  His victories came in the 500 freestyle (4:34.85), 200 freestyle (1:40.73) and the 200 breaststroke (2:02.23).  All of these events met the state qualifying standards and his time in the 200 breaststroke broke his existing conference record set last year.

 Joining Akbar on the victory stand were teammates Ryan Larson and Todd Johnson.  Larson, a sophomore from Alta Loma High School won the 200 and 400 yard individual medley races.  His times of 1:54.76 and 4:10.67 also qualify him to compete in next weeks state championships.  Johnson, a freshman from Alta Loma High School, victory came in the 1650 freestyle where his time of 16:56.11 for the 66 lap race qualified him also for next weeks state championships.

 The victory stand got crowded with Chaffey winning all 5 relays at this year's championships.  Winning the 200 freestyle relay in a time of 1:27.72 was Johnson, Chris Furuno, Bryant Jackson and Benny Respati.  Winning the 400 medley relay was Larson, Nasution, Furuno and Respati in 3:35.00.  The 200 medley relay was won by the same foursome in a time of 1:37.21.  In the 800 freestyle relay, Johnson, Bryant Jackson, Larson and Nasution broke the school record in their winning time of 7:00.23.  Finishing off the meet the way they started it, the Panthers won the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:10.78.  Swimmers were Johnson, Respati, Larson and Nasution.  All 5 relays met the state qualifying standards for next weeks championships to be held at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo.

 In addition to already mentioned swimmers and events, Chaffey's Todd Johnson also qualified for the upcoming state championships with his 2nd place finishes in the 500 freestyle (4:47.79) and 400 individual medley (4:13.26).  Ryan Larson also met the state standards with his 2nd place finish in the 200 butterfly (1:56.76).

 Diving is an integral part of the overall swimming program and this year's diving corps was led by Henry Affeldt, a freshman who took 2nd place on both the 1 and 3 meter board with scores of 183.30 and 198.05.  His finishes at the regional diving championships qualified him for next weeks state championships.

 Swimmers must race as individuals but the team championship was won because many of the swimmers, although not winning their events, scored valuable points for placing in the championship and consolation finals.  Scoring for the Panthers were Blake Jackson, Jimmy Schiller, Jesus Barrios (500 freestyle); Chris Furuno (200 individual medley); Bryant Jackson, Drew Fischer (50 freestyle); Jamie Higelin, Daniel Guererro, Luke Myers (3 meter diving); Chris Furuno, Wes Harms, Anthony Harbeck, Cory Olivera (400 individual medley); Drew Fischer, Jimmy Schiller (200 freestyle); Andre Tiebout, Bryant Jackson, Johnny Vieira, Anthony Harbeck (100 breaststroke); Benny Respati (100 backstroke); Jamie Higelin, Luke Myers, Daniel Guererro (1 meter diving); Jimmy Schiller, Johnny Vieira (1650 freestyle); Chris Furuno, Cory Olivera (200 backstroke); Benny Respati, Drew Fischer (100 freestyle); Bryant Jackson, Andre Tiebout, Johnny Vieira, Anthony Harbeck (200 breaststroke) and Blake Jackson, Jesus Barrios (200 butterfly).

 Coach Mike Dickson was honored by his fellow coaches as Coach of the Year and said this was a particularly satisfying victory for the team.  With double workouts Monday through Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning workouts, weight training and many missed social opportunities, the team showed spirit and unity as they went through the dual meet season undefeated and led from start to finish at the Conference Championships.  The sophomores on the team will be missed but he is looking forward to working with those freshman returning to win a 2nd conference title.

 The California State Swimming and Diving Championships will be hosted by Saddleback College in Mission Viejo beginning Thursday, May 1st through Saturday, May 3rd.

WOMEN -- After finishing the conference season undefeated, the women went into last weekend’s SCC Championships in good form. Leading the Panthers to victory was Jim Dopf who was named Women’s Coach of the Year for the South Coast Conference. The women travel to Saddleback this weekend for the state championships.

4/17/08
MEN -- The Chaffey College Men's Swimming team closed out the Pasadena City College Invitational in 2nd place with 636 points. Diablo Valley College took 1st place with 727 points and Orange Coast College finished 3rd with 574 points. All 3 teams will meet again in 3 weeks at the California Community College State Championships.

Chaffey was led by Invitational high point swimmer Akbar Nasution who continued his winning ways with victories in 3 more events bring his total to 5 first place wins. He won the 400 individual medley (3:59.4), 100 breaststroke (57.0) and 200 breaststroke (2:03.9). All three wins were also new meet and pool record swims.

In addition to individual scoring, Chaffey's relay teams also scored big points by placing 2nd in the 200 medley relay (1:37.7) Ryan Larson, Nasution, Chris Furuno, Kyle Kerrigan; 800 freestyle relay, 3rd (7:28.2) Blake Jackson, Bryant Jackson, Tood Johnson, Kerrigan and 400 freestyle relay, 3rd (3:13.3) Kerrigan, Benny Respati, Larson, Nasution.

WOMEN -- The Chaffey College Women's Swim Team took 5th out of 24 teams at the ninth annual Pasadena Swimming and Diving Invitational. The Lady Panthers were led by Roxanne Garcera who won the 100 Individual Medley,(1:01.65), the 100 Freestyle (54.82) and the 200 Freestyle 1:58.01. Rachel Turner finished 3rd in the 1650 yd Freestyle (18:51.22). The Panthers 7-0 in the South Coast Conference will compete in two weeks at the SCC Finals April 24, 25 and 26 at Pasadena City College.

Chaffey will now get ready for the South Coast Conference Championships in two weeks which will be held at the Pasadena City College Swim Stadium.

4/4/08
Chaffey College Men's Swimming increased their conference lead to 6 - 0 by defeating Pasadena City College and Rio Hondo College by scores of 81 to 49 and 118 to 11.

Chaffey was lead to victory by the following swimmers who took 1st place in their individual events: Chris Furuno, 1000 freestyle (11:11.0), 100 backstroke (58.3); Kyle Kerrigan, 200 freestyle (1:48.1); Ryan Larson, 200 butterfly (2:00.7), 200 backstroke (2:01.2); Henry Affeldt, diving (172.25); Jesus Barrios, 500 freestyle (5:35.1) and Akbar Nasution, 200 individual medley (1:56.3).

The Panther relays also took top honors by winning the 400 freestyle relay in a time of 3:20.6 with Benny Respati, Blake Jackson, Todd Johnson, and Larson. The 200 medley relay won in a time of 1:40.0 with Larson, Nasution, Jackson, and Johnson.

Chaffey will attempt to finish undefeated for the second year in a row when they take on Long Beach City College next Friday at Long Beach.

3/27/08
WOMEN -- Chaffey (4-0) swept all 14 events vs Mt. Sac (3-1) and LA Trade Tech (0-4) to take over sole passion of first place in the South Coast Conference. Leading the Panthers Friday were Erin Lura, Jaclyn Levesque, Roxanne Garcera, Melissa Dunham, Rachel Turner, Tracy Tuttle and Amber Gray.

MEN -- Chaffey College Men's Swimming Team extended their undefeated season by swimming past Mt San Antonio College 80 to 50 and Los Angeles Trade Tech 110 to 17. Chaffey was led by Akbar Nasution and Ryan Larson who each won 2 events. Akbar's victories came in the 50 freestyle (22.3) and 200 individual medley (1:58.4). Ryan victories came in the 1000 freestyle (10:16.7) and 200 breaststroke (2:13.9).

Additional first places honors for Chaffey were Todd Johnson, 200 freestyle (1:51.3); Andre Tiebout, 100 breaststroke (1:04.8); Blake Jackson, 200 butterfly (2:09.3); Henry Affeldt, 1 meter diving (85.00) and Bryant Jackson, 100 freestyle (51.0). The Panthers also took first in the 400 freestyle relay with Chris Furuno, Todd Johnson, Kyle Kerrigan, and Ryan Larson.

Chaffey's next contest is a double dual meet against Pasadena City College and Rio Hondo College at Pasadena on Friday, March 21st.

3/17/08
Women -- Sierra College (864 pts.) won the 2nd annual Chaffy College Swimming Invitational. Chaffey (652 pts) finished in 2nd, followed closely by Riverside (640 pts.) Chaffey was led by Rachel Turner (1st 1650yd freestyle 19:00.08), and Roxanne Garcera (1st 50yd Butterfly 26.87) both were Invitational records. Riverside’s Paloma Dinkel won the high point award for winning all 5 of her events.

Men -- Chaffey College Men's Swimming Team did not rest on their lead after the first day of the 2nd Annual Chaffey Invitational.  They came in on Saturday and won 11 out of 14 events to win the meet with a score of 1,073 points over Grossmont (788),  Riverside (630), Mt San Antonio (473), Palomar (288), Fullerton (247), San Diego Mesa (154), and Santa Ana (38).

Leading the Panthers was Akbar Nasution who won the Outstanding Swimmer of the Meet Award for winning all 5 of his individual events.  In addition to his 2 victories on Friday, Akbar also won the 400 individual medley in a meet record time of 4:06.9, 200 backstroke in a meet record time of 2:00.9, and the 100 breaststroke in a time of 1:00.4. 

Other Panther victories were won by Todd Johnson in the 1650 freestyle, Ryan Larson in the 200 butterfly and 100 butterfly, Bryant Jackson in the 200 breaststroke, and Kyle Kerrigan in the 200 freestyle.

Chaffey was also victorious in the 200 medley relay, 400 freestyle relay, and 400 medley relay.

Chaffey goes on the road next week when they meet Mt Sac and LA Trade Tech and the LA Trade Tech pool on Friday, March 21st.

3/7/08
With 3 of the top 4 teams from last year state champonships competing at this years Mt Sac Invitational, Chaffey Colleges Men's team faced their tough competition to date. The Panthers placed 2nd behind the reigning state champions from Ventura. Ventura had 546 to Chaffeys 470 points. 3rd went to Orange Coast who finished with 436.

Ryan Larson earned high point honors by finaling in all 5 of his individual events. He won the 400 yard individual events and took 2nd in the 200 individual medley and 200 backstroke. Not to be outdone, Ryan's teammate Akbar Nasution was a triple winner by winning the 1650 freestyle, 200 individual medley, and 200 freestyle.

Chaffey also had 3 relays place in the top 3. Placing 2nd in the 800 freestyle relay (Todd Johnson, Kyle Kerrigan, Ryan Larson, Akbar Nasution) and 2nd in the 400 freestyle relay (Bryant Jackson, Todd Johnson, Kyle Kerrigan, Ryan Larson). The 400 medley relay (Ryan Larson, Akbar Nasution, Blake Jackson, Kyle Kerrigan) placed 3rd.

The Woman’s team was led by sophomore Roxanne Garcera who won the 200 IM (2:17.77), 100 yd butterfly (59.87), and the 50yd butterfly (27.35) to take 5th at the Mt. Sac Invitational. Other top 3 finishers were Rachel Turner 1650 yd Freestyle (19:20.32), 200 yd freestyle relay: Garcera, Erin Lura, Rebekah Lopez, and Melissa Dunham (1:46.23) The Panther out scored all the other South Coast Conference Team by a score of 321 to 292.

2/15/08
The men's and women's swim team started off the season by winning both the Palomar Pentathlon and the Waterman Relay's. The women were led by Roxanne Garcera who placed 1st in all five events on Friday the Panthers out scored the other 7 teams at the invitational. On Saturday Garcera won 4 of her 5 races followed by Jaclyn Levesque winning 3 of her events. Freshman Melissa Dunham, and Erin Lura each had two wins apiece. The final score for the women on Saturday was: Chaffey 657, RCC 590, Palomar 352, Fullerton 264, Grossmont 243, Mesa 206 and Southwestern 156. The men scored 727 points followed by RCC, Grossmont, Southwestern, Palomar, Fullerton and Mesa. The team has a 2 week break before the Swim/Dive Pentathlon on the 22-23.