Samuel Jo is all smiles with his state title medal in the 200 backstroke as he is flanked by PCC head coach Terry Stoddard (left) and assistant coach Andrew Barmann (right), photo by Richard Quinton. Samuel Jo became the first Pasadena City College men’s swimmer in 26 years to win two state titles at the […]
Samuel Jo is all smiles with his state title medal in the 200 backstroke as he is flanked by PCC head coach Terry Stoddard (left) and assistant coach Andrew Barmann (right), photo by Richard Quinton.
Samuel Jo became the first Pasadena City College men’s swimmer in 26 years to win two state titles at the same state meet Saturday as he led the Lancers to a ninth place team finish at the CCCAA State Swimming and Diving Championships held May 4-6 at East Los Angeles College.
It was the third time a PCC team placed in the state top 10 under Lancers’ head coach Terry Stoddard. Pasadena placed eighth at the 2008 and 2011 state meets.
Jo is the first Lancers swimmer since Ernie Lee in ’91 to win two events. Lee was a winner in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-backstroke that year when he set then school records in those events. PCC’s 148 team points was higher than any other South Coast Conference team, 50 points more than SCC champion and state 14th place Mt. San Antonio.
After Jo’s school-record setting performance on Friday in winning the 100 backstroke, the freshman from Loyola High scorched his own PCC record in the 200 backstroke on Saturday. Jo swam a 1:49.79 to break that record by three seconds at the “fast” ELAC Swim Stadium pool. His final 50 was a 27.53 as he distanced himself from the field and won by nearly three seconds over the silver medalist.
“Samuel is just a person who is very determined, focused on being the best,” PCC head coach Terry Stoddard said. “I don’t think it’s surprising to see him make that explosive finals backstroke swim. The great swimmers rise to the occasion.”
On Friday, Jo scored a fourth place medal in the 200 freestyle in a time of 1:42.09. Jo was the Co-South Coast Conference Swimmer of the Year coming into the meet.
Another top performer for the men was Sydney Odent, an international student from France. On Saturday, Odent scored the silver medal for second place in the 1,650 freestyle in a time of 16:10.37. The freshman was seven seconds faster than the bronze finisher. In another year he would have won the state title but he was in the pool with the experienced Drew Sipple of Santa Rosa who was Co-State Swimmer of the Year and won in a blistering 15:39.
Earlier in the meet, Odent added a fourth place medal in the 400 individual medley with a season-best time of 4:05.77. Odent also broke a 39-year-old school record in the 200 IM during his consolation final swim (second in race, 10th in overall scoring) at 1:54.47.
