The Bakersfield College swim team had their first, and final home meet on Saturday, April 4. The event was held at the Garces High School pool, as the BC pool remains under construction. The men’s team earned first place, while the women’s team placed second against Allan Hancock College, and Fresno City College. BC now moves forward and will compete in the Western State Conference Championships from April 16-18 at LA Valley College.

The men’s division secured first place, defeating Hancock College by 11 points, with Jacob Zimmerman placing first and David Hernandez second in the overall scores of the meet. The women’s division also performed strongly, earning second place overall.

The athletes and their supporting families were content to be competing back in Bakersfield. Students like Mateo Alvarez shared that they were happy to swim at “home” and have family and friends go out to support.

 “The one home meet that everyone got to come to and experience… it really inspired me to push to another level,” said Alvarez.

A family member of another swimmer, Julie Lira, was happy to be able to attend her student’s meet after months of her family being unable to watch any competitions.

 “I loved that all the family got to see him swim one last time, one last season,” said Lira.

Coach Matt Moon expressed appreciation to Garces High School and staff for hosting the event after many weekends of competing out of town due to the pool deck renovations making it impossible for Bakersfield College to host any meets. This ongoing construction has created challenges and logistical obstacles for athletes and coaches. Nonetheless, the team has overcome the drawbacks and have spent weeks preparing for the, objectively, biggest swim competition of the season, the WSC championships. With only one week to go the athletes train harder than ever to prepare for the event.

“Good luck to the BC swimmers as we do our final preparation for the 2026 WSC Swimming Championships,” said Moon.