SAN MARCOS — On Feb. 6, teams from the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference came together to start off the swim season with the Waterman Pentathlon, a five-event tournament that gave swimmers an early glimpse at what they and their competitors are capable of.
Every swimmer on the men’s and women’s rosters participated in all five events: a 50-yard race for each of the four strokes, as well as the 100-yard individual medley (IM).
John Fritz, a sophomore on the men’s team, was a standout performer at the meet. He clinched second place in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.85. It was an incredibly tight race, with Fritz beating out the third-place swimmer by one-tenth of a second.
Fritz went on to showcase his proficiency in all strokes in the 100-yard IM, where he placed first with a time of 56.94.
“This meet was kind of a window to see what I’m capable of for the rest of the year. I feel pretty hopeful about some of my times, but there’s a lot I want to work on,” Fritz said.
Sophomores Ruby Jones and Tiana Timmons achieved the fastest times for Palomar on the women’s team.
Jones particularly excelled in the 50-yard breaststroke and 100-yard IM, finishing with times of 35.76 and 1:08.22, respectively. Timmons’ strongest swims were the 50-yard butterfly at 31.16 and 100-yard IM at 1:08.84.
“I’m just wanting to have fun during the season. I’m not really worried about times or anything until the end,” Timmons said.
For the Comets, the Pentathlon served to calibrate how to best move forward.
“At the beginning of the season, we don’t know where everybody’s at…We can see a little bit during practice, but this is what really tells the tale. Who’s ready to go, who’s not, who still needs some work,” Head Coach Scott Lawson said.
Outside of racing, the team consistently showed strong sportsmanship and camaraderie, something that Lawson noted with pride.
“This year, the majority of the team is definitely team oriented. They’re all cheering each other on … So I know this is definitely better this year than last year,” Lawson said.
The Pentathlon was the only home competition of the season. Palomar will take to the water again on Feb. 20 at the Golden West Sprint Meet.