Victory Laps for SMC Women’s Swim
The Santa Monica College (SMC) Corsairs women’s swim team took part in the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) swim and dive state championship, winning first place in five relays.
The Santa Monica College (SMC) Corsairs women’s swim team took part in the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) swim and dive state championship, winning first place in five relays. The team also placed second and third in several individual events. Head Coach Brian Eskridge won coach of the year following the championship.
The three-day tournament kicked off on Thursday, May 4 with warmups before the preliminary rounds began at 9 a.m. The warmups for finals began at 2:45 p.m. and the meet officially began at 4:30 p.m. The first event SMC placed in was the 200 yard freestyle relay. The swimmers in order for the event were Risa Akatsu, Reva Reignier, Wilma Henriksson, and Emily Lester. They placed first in the final race with a time of 1:38.56.
Akatsu continued her day with the 200 individual medley (IM). She dropped her original time by nearly three seconds, placing third with a time of 2:10.57.
Akatsu noted a physical and mental toll that she faced during the season, but was grateful for Eskridge’s constant encouragement to keep swimming competitively, as well as her team.
“This year was really hard but I’m so proud of myself for pushing through and I’m so proud to be on a team and having really good teammates and coach,” she said.
The Corsairs closed out the day with another first place win in the 400 medley. The medley was led by Reignier in backstroke, followed by Henriksson swimming her preferred stroke, breaststroke. Ema Kilmauskas continued the relay with butterfly and Lester closed it out with freestyle. The group solidified their first place spot in the final race with a time of 3:53.89.
Lester had taken a three-year hiatus from swimming before enrolling at SMC and signing up for the swim team. The hiatus gave her confidence issues, but she was able to work through it to win the state championship alongside the team.
“I really liked having it be all the relays that really won state for us because it kind of reflects the whole season and how it was a team sport all the way through,” said Lester. “All of us just supported each other and worked hard together the whole time.”
The women continued with their stellar performances on Friday, May 5, placing in all seven of the swim events. The prelims once again started at 9 a.m. before the official final races starting at 4:30 p.m. The first event for the Corsairs was the 200 Medley. The medley began with Lester swimming backstroke, Henriksson doing breaststroke, Kilmauskas butterfly, and Akatsu rounding it out in freestyle. They placed first with a time of 1:48.55.
SMC also placed in five individual events, beginning with a 400 IM from Kilmauskas. Kilmauskas placed second in the official race with a six second improvement at 4:39.03. The 100 fly followed, the first of two events in the day in which Reignier placed individually. She placed third with a time of 58:38. Akatsu followed with a third place spot of her own in the 200 free with a time of 1:55.82.
Henriksson came next in the 100 breast, her favorite stroke. She placed second with a time of 1:05.33. The final individual event, the 100 back, was swam by Reignier where she placed third at 59.32.
Henriksson described winning both individual and team events as a special feeling, especially after an eye and ear infection kept her out of the water for a few weeks. Growing up swimming in Sweden gave her the impression that swimming was more of an individual sport, but being at SMC has helped her appreciate the sense of camaraderie she developed with her team.
“Just really feeling that we’re all doing this together and we wouldn’t be here without each other is like a whole different feeling that I’ve ever felt before,” said Henriksson.
The Corsairs wrapped up their day with a win in the 800 free relay. There was no preliminary round for the event, but that didn’t stop them from securing the first place spot. The swim began with Akatsu, followed by Valerie Burchard, Kilmauskas swimming third, and Reignier anchoring the race. The Corsairs won with a time of 7:59.91.
Burchard felt a sense of relief finally winning the state championship. A couple challenges she faced throughout the season were joint issues, as well as not really considering herself a long distance swimmer.
“I just really didn’t want to let my teammates down so when I looked up at the board and I saw first place, by I think eight seconds … the relief I felt was immense,” said Burchard.
Saturday featured Henriksson and Kilmauskas placing in individual events. Henriksson placed third in the 200 breast with a time of 2:24.24. Kilmauskaus followed in the 200 fly, placing second with a time of 2:07.16.
Kilmauskas reflected on the championship and her season as a whole. A personal hardship for her was balancing a student-athlete life, especially for a sport where the athletes wake up very early to compete — but it paid off in the end.
“It was also just a huge relief off of our shoulders because we knew that at the end we may have had a chance,” said Kilmauskas. “But when we knew our point totals that's when we really could relax because we knew we’d finally done it.”
The final event for the Corsairs was the 400 free relay. Akatsu kicked off the race, followed by Reignier, Kilmauskas swimming third, and Lester rounding out the final leg. The group placed first with a time of 3:33.67.
Eskridge, who’s been head coach of the women’s swim team since 2018, felt proud of the team’s chemistry displayed throughout the season and how they performed at the state championship. He gave credit to the team and coaches around him for helping the team win, as well as winning head coach of the year. Eskridge said he looks forward to next year’s upcoming water polo and swim seasons.
“A lot of the girls play water polo, a lot of them do both so kind of building on that momentum, getting in a good water polo season and then getting ready for swim season next year,” said Eskridge.
Reignier expressed that the wins were unexpected but they were all happy as a team and proud of themselves.
“The group, you can see that we have a close — we consider each other really more than friends,” said Reignier. “More like family.”
