More Than Medals

(L-R) Ainsley Wad of Las Positas College (4th), Karla Perez of Santa Monica College (5th), Ivana Sandoval Chavez of College of Marin (6th), Makenna Brock of Sierra College (7th) and Jayden Helm of Las Positas College (8th) applaud for the top finalists of the one-meter board event at the 3C2A State Championship on Thursday, April 30, 2026, at the Orange Coast College Pool in Costa Mesa, Calif. Perez was a contestant to place on top of the competition. “I wanted to risk it all. … For me it wasn’t getting first place,” Perez said. “This is going to make me get prepared for the future, because I want to go to the Olympics for diving,” Perez won 5th place with 212.45 points and earned a 3C2A medal for finishing as a finalist. (Silke Eichholz | The Corsair)

Across three days of highs and lows at the 3C2A Swim & Dive State Championship, athletes leaned on coaches and teammates through successes and disappointments. 

The championship was held Thursday, April 30, through Saturday, May 2, 2026, at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa. Seven Santa Monica College Corsairs qualified, and six competed, leaving Cindy Canseco home due to an ear infection.

“I wanted to risk it all. … For me it wasn’t getting first place,” diver Karla Perez said, embracing risk over results. 

Perez, a 2018 Youth Olympics bronze medalist for Guatemala, competed with high expectations from herself and others. She placed fifth in the one-meter board competition and eighth in the three-meter board competition, earning two 3C2A medals as a finalist. 

“This is going to make me get prepared for the future, because I want to go to the Olympics for diving,” Perez said.

Ryan King, diving head coach, guided Perez through overcoming her setbacks at the Championship while her family supported her on the sidelines. 

Corsairs swimmers Izzy Montgomery, Riley Taizo Amis and Rohan Lee competed in individual events. Amis, Lee, Anton Olsson, and Zinadin Rosales raced together in the men’s 200-meter medley relay. 

Montgomery delivered a season-best swim in the 200-meter butterfly. She placed eighth in the finals, adding another medal. 

Brian Eskridge, swimming head coach, said before Montgomery’s final, “She will get a medal tonight! Really great swim. She dropped a lot of time.”

Athletes from all colleges cheered loudly, “Go, go, go!” and celebrated each other's personal wins.

“There was a lot of emotion over the last three days,” Corsair swimmer Amis said. “Some up, some down — but about competing at such a high-level meet, I was envious to be around such amazing athletes and being able to say I was one of them.”

“…No one is perfect. What builds great athletes is how they take hardship whether they learn or lose what they can gain,” Amis said

Karla Perez, Santa Monica College Diving Corsair and a 2018 Youth Olympics Gymnast, dives from the one-meter board with observation by head coach Ryan King at the 3C2A State Championship on Thursday, April 30, 2026, at the Orange Coast College Pool in Costa Mesa, Calif. Perez was a contestant to place on top of the competition. King said “Diving is interesting in the fact that there is a very short window for you to perform your exercise. If it isn’t 100% perfect immediately, then the dive is kind of doomed from the very beginning. There is no catching up.” Perez won 5th place with 212.45 points and earned a 3C2A medal for finishing as a finalist. (Silke Eichholz | The Corsair)

(L-R) Ainsley Wad of Las Positas College (4th), Karla Perez of Santa Monica College (5th), Ivana Sandoval Chavez of College of Marin (6th), Makenna Brock of Sierra College (7th) and Jayden Helm of Las Positas College (8th) applaud for the top finalists of the one-meter board event at the 3C2A State Championship on Thursday, April 30, 2026, at the Orange Coast College Pool in Costa Mesa, Calif. Perez was a contestant to place on top of the competition. “I wanted to risk it all. … For me it wasn’t getting first place,” Perez said. “This is going to make me get prepared for the future, because I want to go to the Olympics for diving,” Perez won 5th place with 212.45 points and earned a 3C2A medal for finishing as a finalist. (Silke Eichholz | The Corsair)

(L-R) Karla Perez, Santa Monica College Diving Corsair and a 2018 Youth Olympics Gymnast, talks among her dad, Juan Perez and family just before the start of the three-meter board finals at the 3C2A State Championship on Friday, May 1, 2026, at the Orange Coast College Pool in Costa Mesa, Calif. Perez was a contestant to place on top of the competition and she risked performing difficult dives in preparation of the Olympics she is aiming to attend. When asked how her family supported her she said “Whatever you feel like is the best for you and that’s going to make you get prepared to the Olympics… No matter what happens, we’re always her for you.“ Perez won 8th place with 177.05 points and earned a 3C2A medal for finishing as a finalist. (Silke Eichholz | The Corsair)

Karla Perez, Santa Monica College Diving Corsair and a 2018 Youth Olympics Gymnast, dives from the three-meter board at the 3C2A State Championship on Friday, May 1, 2026, at the Orange Coast College Pool in Costa Mesa, Calif. Perez was a contestant to place on top of the competition. “I wanted to risk it all. … For me it wasn’t getting first place,” Perez said. “This is going to make me get prepared for the future, because I want to go to the Olympics for diving,” Perez won 8th place with 177.05 points and earned a 3C2A medal for finishing as a finalist. (Silke Eichholz | The Corsair)

Karla Perez, Santa Monica College Diving Corsair and a 2018 Youth Olympics Gymnast, applauds her fellow competitors receiving their medals for their participation in the three-meter board finals at the 3C2A State Championship on Friday, May 1, 2026, at the Orange Coast College Pool in Costa Mesa, Calif. Perez was a contestant to place on top of the competition. “I wanted to risk it all. … For me it wasn’t getting first place,” Perez said. “This is going to make me get prepared for the future, because I want to go to the Olympics for diving,” Perez won 8th place with 177.05 points and earned a 3C2A medal for finishing as a finalist. (Silke Eichholz | The Corsair)

(L-R) Head coach Ryan King talks in front of Jimena Perez with Karla Perez, Santa Monica College Diving Corsair and a 2018 Youth Olympics Gymnast, and her mom, Arelis Blanco after the three-meter board finals at the 3C2A State Championship on Friday, May 1, 2026, at the Orange Coast College Pool in Costa Mesa, Calif. Perez was a contestant to place on top of the competition. When asked how Perez is overcoming setbacks King said, “You know, a lot of it is psychological. But it is also knowing your athlete. It’s going to be very difficult for her to just relax. She’s going to want to do something productive. That’s just the kind of athlete that she is. … Her comfort zone is being uncomfortable and overtraining.” Perez won 8th place with 177.05 points and earned a 3C2A medal for finishing as a finalist. (Silke Eichholz | The Corsair)

Santa Monica College (SMC) assistant coach J.J. Amis (center left) and his younger brother Riley Taizo Amis (center right) fist bump after Amis’ race in the 200m Individual Medley of the 3C2A State Championship alongside their team mates Corsair Izzy Montgomery and Zinandin Rosales (left) and head coach Brian Eskridge (right) on Thursday, April 30, 2026, at the Orange Coast College Pool in Costa Mesa, Calif. Amis finished with a personal best time of 1:59.29 and placed 20th, missing to qualify for a spot in the finals by half of a second. Montgomery, who also swam the 200m Individual Medley finished with a personal best time of 2:16.42 in Prelims, qualifying for the finals, and placed 13th overall. (Silke Eichholz | The Corsair)

Riley Taizo Amis, Santa Monica College (SMC) Corsair, prepares himself for the Prelims of the men’s 100m breaststroke listening to music and holding a rosary during the 3C2A State Championship on Friday, May 1, 2026, at the Orange Coast College Pool in Costa Mesa, Calif. Amis said “I like listening to this funk song, Funk Universo, that puts me in a place where no one’s around but sometimes a little WWE entrance themes old school rap makes me feel like I am having a walk out appearance.” Asking about the rosary he said “It’s a little prayer I started doing when a great mentor of mine unfortunately passed away three years ago due to colon cancer. Her name was Adrienne. … So every big race it’s almost a reminder and a message for who’s it’s for and how I got here.” Amis finished in 59.38 seconds and qualified for the finals. He placed 15th overall with a time of 59.69 seconds. (Silke Eichholz | The Corsair)

Izzy Montgomery, Santa Monica College (SMC) Corsair, dives from the block during the Prelims in the women’s 200m Individual Medley of the 3C2A State Championship on Thursday, April 30, 2026, at the Orange Coast College Pool in Costa Mesa, Calif. Montgomery finished with a personal best time of 2:16.42 in Prelims, qualifying for the finals, and placed 13th overall. (Silke Eichholz | The Corsair)

Riley Taizo Amis, Santa Monica College (SMC) Corsair, swims during the Prelims of the men’s 100m breaststroke during the 3C2A State Championship on Friday, May 1, 2026, at the Orange Coast College Pool in Costa Mesa, Calif. Amis finished in 59.38 seconds and qualified for the finals. He placed 15th overall with a time of 59.69 seconds. (Silke Eichholz | The Corsair)

Zinandin Rosales, Santa Monica College (SMC) Corsair, leads off the race with backstroke in the timed final of the men’s 200m Medley Relay at the 3C2A State Championship on Friday, May 1, 2026, at the Orange Coast College Pool in Costa Mesa, Calif. A medley relay starts with backstroke directly out of the water instead of a dive from the block. Corsairs placed 15th with a time of 1:37.72. (Silke Eichholz | The Corsair)

Rohan Lee, Santa Monica College Corsair, exhales before the Prelims in the men’s 50m Freestyle of the 3C2A State Championship on Thursday, April 30, 2026, at the Orange Coast College Pool in Costa Mesa, Calif. Lee placed 16th with a time of 21.31 seconds in the finals. (Silke Eichholz | The Corsair)

(L-R) Tom Briskey, assistant swim coach, stands with Corsair Rohan Lee before his upcoming race in the finals of the men’s 50m Freestyle of the 3C2A State Championship on Thursday, April 30, 2026, at the Orange Coast College Pool in Costa Mesa, Calif. Lee placed 16th with a time of 21.31 seconds. (Silke Eichholz | The Corsair)

Rohan Lee, Santa Monica College Corsair, swims during the Prelims in the men’s 100m butterfly of the 3C2A State Championship on Friday, May 1, 2026, at the Orange Coast College Pool in Costa Mesa, Calif. Lee was injured with a partially dislocated left shoulder and impingement begin of season and said “It hurts now. I didn’t do so well in the run. When I was warming up, I felt it coming on a little again.” Lee placed 18th with a time of 52.30 seconds in the prelims missing to qualify for the finals. (Silke Eichholz | The Corsair)

Rohan Lee, Santa Monica College Corsair, after his race in the finals of the men’s 50m Freestyle during the 3C2A State Championship on Thursday, April 30, 2026, at the Orange Coast College Pool in Costa Mesa, Calif. Lee placed 16th with a time of 21.31 seconds. (Silke Eichholz | The Corsair)

(L-R) Santa Monica College (SMC) Corsairs Zinandin Rosales, Riley Taizo Amis, Rohan Lee, and Anton Olsson stand for a photo before their 200m Medley Relay in the timed final at the 3C2A State Championship on Friday, May 1, 2026, at the Orange Coast College Pool in Costa Mesa, Calif. Rosales swam as leadoff backstroke, followed by Amis, who swam breaststroke and Lee butterfly. Anker Olsson swam freestyle, and the Corsairs placed 15th with a time of 1:37.72. Amis said about his sunscreen “The face is kind of for fun. I do like standing out and I’m a look good feel-good type of person.” Lee said about his tattoos “I got my first tattoo when I was 16. And since then it became an addiction. … The moth on my chest is probably my favorite.” (Silke Eichholz | The Corsair)