A new year brings the beginning of a new journey for Santa Rosa Junior College’s men’s and women’s swim teams. Both teams are rebuilding with a new mixture of fresh swimmers.

Last season the women won the state meet and the men broke into the top 10, which SRJC swim coach Jill McCormick explained is extraordinary.

The history of the swim team is a successful one. It has won the state championship in 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2015 for the women’s team, and 2012 for the men’s team.

“We have a lot of returners. Last year we had a larger influx of sophomores, and this year we have more freshmen. So it’s kinda like a flip-flop, but that’s pretty typical for a two-year program, it turns around,” McCormick said. “So the nice thing about that is we have some really nice sophomore leadership on the team this year that had a high level of experience both at conference and state level last year.”

She’s excited for the men’s team this year.  “Our men’s team is larger and has more diversity of widespread depth and talent than we had last year,” McCormick said. She believes the men’s team is more competitive and has a better chance of finishing higher in the state meet than they have since their last championship. Currently the men’s swim team is working to create a line for the relays they think will be most effective in competitions.

“I’m not big on defending the title because every year is a new year. That’s thinking in the past and we need to be focused on the present,” McCormick said about the women’s team.

She mentioned some experienced athletes are returning from last year’s roster. She’s thankful the returners have the opportunity to share their experiences of winning with the incoming freshmen.

The swim team is here and ready to work hard to make this up-and-coming season one to remember.