Nick Pecoraro
Sports Editor
To say that Matt Lemire and Julia Ng have had a busy semester may be a major understatement.
The two City College sophomore swimmers have found a way to rack up accolades both in the pool and in the classroom.
Lemire and Ng were the only representatives for the Panthers at the California Community College Athletic Association Swim and Dive State Championships May 3–5 at De Anza College. Lemire qualified for both the 500-and 1650 freestyle while Ng raced in the 50-and 100 free and the 100 butterfly.
Lemire’s third-place finish of 16 minutes, 16.02 seconds at the state meet was the second-best mile time in City College history and the fastest in the past 35 years.
“I’m totally happy with taking third,” said Lemire, who had two runner-up finishes in the mile during the season. “It was the strongest, most consistent mile I’ve ever swam—definitely a feather in my cap for my swim career.”
It is a career that has established Lemire as one of the most dominant distance swimmers to dive into Hoos Pool. Lemire holds the second fastest time in the mile and the third fastest time in the 500.
City head coach Steve Hanson was baffled at how Lemire was able to consistently drop time, lap after lap, for such a distance.
“It takes an athlete,” said Hanson. “I don’t know. I don’t have that kind of capacity for that type of race. We do a lot of tempo swims to get (Lemire) confident and comfortable. He knows how much he has to embrace that discomfort, so preparing him for that side of it, we really didn’t have to worry about it.”
Amidst his time training in Hoos Pool this season, Lemire has spent this school year spread across three different Los Rios campuses. A Mechanical Engineering major, Lemire takes a Physics class at City College, a Differential Equations course at Cosumnes River and a Chemistry class at American River for a total of 14 units.
Lesser students may have crumbled by now, but Lemire maintains a 3.59 GPA—the highest on the men’s swim team. He was recently named to the City College Scholar Athlete Team, for being one of 20 sophomores with the highest GPAs in the City College athletic department.
Regular intake of this herbal supplement increases testosterone and increases sensation in discount order viagra the genitals. Instead of focusing on the sensation you experience during sexual activity, think of something purchase cheap viagra other than sex like a baseball game or reciting the alphabet backwards. Psychological vardenafil price Causes The brain plays an important role in maintaining circadian rhythms. It is a version of http://deeprootsmag.org/2015/03/30/stirring-heart-captivating-mind/ levitra 20 mg that falls under the generic name of tadalafil, this medication was clinically tested and proved to be quite successful. “This has been the hardest semester I’ve had thus far,” said Lemire. “(Winning the Scholar Athlete award) is a reflection of one’s work ethic, being able to balance the academic and athletic aspects of life. What I do in sports—what I bring to competition can translate into the classroom.”
Ng has established herself as a City College great as well. At the end of the 2018 school year, she will have sprayed her name all over the Panther record books for women’s freestyle swimmers.
Ng set a new school record in the 50 free at the Big 8 Championships April 19 at ARC, finishing third overall at 24.74 seconds and breaking Victoria Ramirez’s 9-year-old mark of 24.85. Ng posted City College’s second fastest 50 time just two weeks later at the state championships at 24.82, finishing 10th overall.
“It hasn’t really hit me yet,” said Ng of being City’s new standard-bearer in the 50 freestyle. “During the race, my mind shuts off, and I don’t really think about anything until the end… Being the fastest sprinter at Sac City is kinda cool.”
Ng had six finishes of under 26 seconds in the 50 free this season. She holds the second fastest time in school history in the 100 fly, which she posted at the state meet for an 11th place finish. She is also ranked fourth all-time at City College in both the 50-and 200 fly. Her time of 54.34 seconds in the 100 free at the Big 8 Championships was the fastest by a Panther in the past 20 years.
During her 19 total races leading up to the CCCAA State Championships this season, Ng finished outside of the Top 10 only once.
“She’s been a big part of everything that we do,” said Hanson. “She sets a tone for all of our training. It’s like clockwork. She gets her suit on and goes to business. She’s a quiet leader, but she’ll do her job. If people follow her, they benefit.”
Ng began the past two years playing for Hanson’s water polo team in the fall, a sport that she never played before coming to City College, according to Hanson.
“She’s a great athlete, in all senses of the word,” said Hanson. “She wants to master her discipline. She’s a fighter. She consistently punches above her weight class. I told her, ‘You give me two years of water polo, and you’re going to be a stronger swimmer.’ She did, and she really benefited. One of the best athletes in our program since I’ve been here. The proof is in the pudding—record boards and that consistency.”
Ng said her competitiveness comes from being the fourth of five siblings in her family.
“Being smaller is a big motivator to beat out everyone else,” she said. “Even when the circumstances are not always perfect, put in the work, and it shows results.”
Like Lemire, Ng is no slouch in the classroom either. An International Studies major, Ng was also named to the City College Scholar Athlete Team with a 3.87 GPA—the fifth highest of any student-athlete at City College in 2018.
For more info on SCC men’s and women’s swimming, visit www.sccpanthers.losrios.edu/sports/swimdive/.
