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Comets claim conference title in dominant fashion
Posted: Apr 22, 2023

Comets claim conference title in dominant fashion

CHULA VISTA, CA (4/22/2023) -- The Palomar College Men's Swim team won the 2023 PCAC Championship in dominant fashion on Saturday afternoon with a total score of 711 points. San Diego Mesa College finished in second place with a score of 595.

With just 11 swimmers, the Comets were the third-largest team competing, but still managed to best the two larger squads.

Sophomore Jacob Rochman led the Comets with 60 points as he swam to a first-place finish in the 400Y IM, 1650Y Free and the 200Y Fly. He recorded a PR in each event. In the 400Y IM, he finished with a Finals time of 4:09.94, a near nine seconds faster than his seed time of 4:18.91. On Saturday he swam his last two events and finished with a time of 16.52.20 in the 1650Y Free and 1:54.13 in the 200Y Fly.

Timothy Godin, another sophomore standout for the Comets, chipped in 56 points to the total score. In his three events, he won two, the 500Y and 200Y Free. He had a 3rd-place finish in the 100Y Free. He also recorded his fastest times this season in the Finals. On Thursday he won the 500Y Free with a time of 4:45.85 and on Friday took home the 200Y Free with a time of 1:44.34. The last day he swam the 100Y Free with a time of 47.07.

Ansel Johnson, a freshman this season, won the 200Y IM on Thursday afternoon with a time of 1:56.69, a personal best. On Friday he swam the 400Y IM and finished in 2nd-place with a time of 4:13.45, an almost nine second drop from his seed time. He also finished in 2nd-place with a time of 1:55.00 in the 200Y Fly. He chipped in 54 total points.

Kevin Brunia won the 100Y Breast on Friday with a time of 57.44 and took home 2nd-place in the 50Y Free on Thursday with a time of 21.39. His final event was the 100Y Free, where he finished with a time of 48.46, finishing in 5th-place.

Ajay Ahooja found success in the 100Y Fly where he won with a personal-best time of 50.64. He had a 4th-place finish in the 100Y Breast and a 5th-place finish in the 50Y Free.

Cristos Birbilis has been getting faster as the season moves forward and he had three top-5 finishes this weekend. He had a 2nd-place finish in the 1650Y Free with a time of 17:48.57 and finished in 3rd-place in the 500Y Free on Thursday with a time of 5:09.46.His 4:35.28 time in the 400Y IM was good enough for a 5th-place finish.

Emmanuel De La Torre is one of the only Comets swimming the backstroke this season. He shaved six seconds off his seed time in the 100Y Back for a 1st-place finish with a Finals time of 55.39. He then finished in second in the 200Y Back with a time of 2:07.28. His time of 2:09.22 in the 200Y IM was good enough for a 6th-place finish.

Manuel Carriles had two top-five finishes and one top-8 finish over the weekend. In the 200Y Back, he had a 4th-place finished with a time of 2:12.92 and a 5th-place finsih in the 100Y Back with a time of 1:00.63. He finished in 8th-place in the 50Y Free.

Cody Poure brought home a 2nd-place finish in the 200Y Breast with a time of 2:20.60, a nearly 14 second drop from his seed time. He then swam the 100Y Breast with a time of 1:04.88 for a 6th-place finish. Jake Coutts finished in 7th-place in the 500Y Free with a time of 5:41.74 and in the 200Y Free finished with an 8th-place finish with a time of 2:06.69.

Donovan Taylor, the lone male diver for the Comets this season, has not stopped winning. He won both the 3M and 1M platforms with scores of 238.3 and 229.05, respectively. Taylor's 40 points helped the Comets win their title this season.