The Cerritos Falcon men and women swim team had a chance to get their feet wet when they were invited to a two-day meet at Palomar Friday, Feb. 5 and Saturday, Feb. 6.

The meet marked the first event of the semester for both teams.

On the last day of the competition, the men’s team ended the weekend in fourth place.

Joe Abing, men’s swim coach, admitted that he wasn’t really concerned with what place they earned at Palomar.

“I was just looking at us getting some experience competing and racing again at our first meet. The main priority was just to have the opportunity to compete,” he said.

This is the team’s first time racing together at an event as a team compiled of new and returning members.

Returning swimmer, Joel Baltista, gave a recap of the event. He said that most of us came back from our first year and overall we did really good. We’re ready to push forward for our next event.

Baltista continued, “Most of us are still trying to get our stroke set. Some of us came from being out of shape, some of us are just working on our speed, so we’re going to work on improving our speed, strokes, and communication in relays.”

New swimmer, Cristian Garcia, believes that the men as a team started off strong, and they’re just going to continue improving by working hard as a team and on individual strengths.

On the other hand, the women’s swim team hit the water stronger than ever, placing in first overall at the Palomar event.

This first place win set the bar for the women’s team, who was also a team compiled of returning and new swimmers.

According to Sergio Macias, women’s swim coach, he feels like it’s always nice finishing first in any invitational that the team participates in.

But, he believes that the big reason the team scored a lot of numbers was due to the depth and numbers they have.

Macias said, “It shows that every swimmer on the team is capable of scoring points, and could do well for the team at conference when it matters the most,

“One performance that stands out was Shannon Owens who swam two tough events back to back with not much rest. She ended up out touching both opponents,” he recalled.

Owens expressed with enthusiasm that invitational was great, and she swam new events.

Owens stated, “I swam the 200 IM, the 200 butterfly, and the 200 back stroke all back to back,

“The meet was very different from high school, and everything I’ve experienced. It was fun overall and it was a great way for the team to get together and bond,” she said.

Both coach Abing and coach Macias feel that the places their team earned at the 2-day event at Palomar was a great start and it’s only the beginning.