By Jacob Norling
April 14, 2021
 
(IRVINE, Calif.) In their second year of program history Westmont swimming has returned to the PCSC Championships in hopes of coming home with their first All-Conference swimmer. Last season the Warriors had two swimmers come with PCSC All-Conference honorable mentions (Morgan Bienias and Bailey Lemmon.
 
"Today was a whirlwind," said head coach Jill Jones Lin. "With all the COVID-19 restrictions the meet had a very quick timeline. The team had to 'get up and go' right away this morning and they did a really great job rallying."
 
Due to COVID-19 protocols the meet has been changed from a combined meet between men's and women's swim, to now the two being divided throughout the day to provide adequate space for social distancing as well as time to cleanse the pools between events.
 
Because of these changes the Warriors were up and bright and early and began their first event of the day at 9:00 AM with the 200 yard freestyle relay. Bridget Hoth, Rian Lewandowski, Morgan Shattuck, and Kassy Gregory combined to finish with a time of 1:43.89, their best time of the season, and finished ninth in the meet.
 
"They really started out strong and did a great job setting the tone for the rest of the morning," said Jones Lin.
 
The Warriors next race was the 500 yard freestyle where Hannah Thompson and Morgan Bienias both posted their season-best times. For Bienias she finished in a season-best 5.23.56. For Thompson her season best time of 6:08.03 was extra sweet because it was not only a season best time, but also the fastest she's swam the event in her entire life.
 
Two more Warriors set season-best times in the 200 yard individual medley later on in the morning. Lewandowski swam a season best time of 2:22.07, and Emma Leathers trimmed ten seconds off her previous fastest time this season when she finished in 2:33.69.
 
Hoth continued the trend of season bests in the 50 yard freestyle, when the All-American posted a time of 24.83.
 
Rachel Peden along with Lewandowski, Bienias, and Hoth became the second Warrior relay team to post a season best time on Wednesday, when the woman posted a time of 4:20.69 in the 400 yard medley relay.
 
"I'm really proud of the effort they put in today," said Jones Lin. "We knew coming in there were going to be challenging variables to deal with and they all adjusted and adapted really well. It was tough, but luckily we are used to doing really hard things."
 
The Warriors jump back in the pool tomorrow morning for day two of the PCSC Championships with their first event, the 200 yard medley relay, scheduled to begin at 9:00 AM. Live coverage will be available at http://www.pacificswimanddive.org/2021-pcsc-championships#schedule on the PCSC Championship website.