Mike Ashmore knows a thing or two about competitive swimming in Santa Maria.
From serving as coach and general manager of the Santa Maria Swim Club since 1999, Ashmore repeatedly noticed a glaring opportunity gap for young swimmers in Santa Maria when the important transition from high school to college came around.
“At the club, we routinely have kids go off to [four-year] colleges, but there was always a gap if you couldn’t afford to go [to college],” Ashmore told the Sun. “You were a little bit hosed. You could train with the club, but you couldn’t continue your athletic career.”
For years, Hancock College—Santa Maria’s lone community college—didn’t offer aquatic sports teams. So swimmers or water polo players who played the sports avidly in high school and decided to attend Hancock didn’t have a competitive outlet to carry on their talents and passions. They could practice with the Santa Maria Swim Club, but that was the extent of their options.
Ashmore, who also teaches physical education at Hancock, tried in vain many times to convince Hancock College athletic directors to jumpstart aquatic sports at the school.
Finally, Ashmore’s persistence prevailed.
In 2014, Hancock introduced a women’s swimming team to its sports lineup, and last fall, the school added a women’s water polo team. Ashmore was hired to coach the swimming team and develop the program from scratch.
“I credit [athletic director] Kim Ensing for finally getting it going,” Ashmore said. “We’ve sort of filled in the gap and allowed those swimmers to continue competing. It’s provided a bridge for those people.”
Now in its third season, Hancock College’s women’s swimming program doesn’t just exist—it’s beginning to thrive. On March 10, the Lady Bulldogs won their first dual meet in the program’s short history against Clovis Community College, winning six of seven events.
Hancock freshman and Pioneer Valley High School grad Madalena Diaz is leading the Bulldogs this season. In the meet against Clovis, Diaz set a Hancock record for the 1,000-yard freestyle event—finishing 98 seconds before the second place swimmer. A day later on March 11, she then shattered the school record in the mile swim by two minutes at a meet at Cuesta College, according to Ashmore.
“We were pretty stoked about that,” Ashmore said. “We’re pretty sure the time she swam will help her qualify for the state meet.”
Diaz told the Sun that she and her teammates are excited to have the opportunity to move their swimming careers forward at Hancock, a path that swimmers attending Hancock prior didn’t have.
“Toward the end of my senior year in high school, I knew I was going to go to Hancock and swim,” Diaz said. “I just wanted to see what I’d be at that point in my swim career. If there wasn’t a team, I don’t know where I’d be. I’m thankful that there is a team now. It’s a cool experience to have.”
Diaz isn’t the only swimmer thriving at Hancock and bolstering the new program. Coach Ashmore also credited Orcutt Academy graduate Alexandria Kwong, who recently broke Hancock records in the butterfly and backstrokes, freshman Brannica Casabar; and Nipomo high grad Rebecca Gonzalez for their contributions to the team thus far.
Ashmore said the Hancock swim team is overall deeper and more well-rounded than the first two Hancock teams.
“We’ve had some good swimmers, but we really haven’t had the depth so far. You used to see five or six of our girls toward the bottom [at the meets] and you don’t see that anymore,” Ashmore said. “We’re just really fortunate this year to have 12 girls who want to contribute and help each other.”
Hancock’s swim season culminates in the conference finals meet in April and then, for qualifying swimmers, the state finals meet in May. Ashmore believes the team is primed for a strong showing at those events now that they’ve had the chance to get to know each other and each player’s unique strength in the pool.
“We are approximately 50 percent through the season, so now we have a good idea of how to position people to score at [the] conference [meet],” he said.
The early season meets in March provide helpful opportunities to measure the progress of the team and identify areas to work on.
“It’s been good practice to see where we are and how we can improve individually and as a team,” Diaz said.
With the past three years as evidence, Hancock has come a long way with aquatic sports. That said, Ashmore still sees progress that should be made. For instance, Hancock doesn’t offer men’s swimming or water polo teams. That gap still has yet to be bridged.
During the inaugural women’s water polo season in the fall, the team reached out to male Hancock students to participate in a scrimmage with the women’s team. The scrimmage drew a big turnout, which is a promising sign if future men’s teams are established.
“I would love to have [those teams],” Ashmore said. “I hope the school decides to do so at some point. I’m sure it comes down to budget, but I think we would be immediately competitive.”
Contributor Peter Johnson can be reached at pjohnson@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Mar 17-24, 2016.
