As a winning standout for Bakersfield College, Allison Duran competed in the California Community College Athletic Association’s Swim and Dive Championships from April 23-April 25. Duran finished with three top 10 finishes in the state and her best times all season.

Duran tied for fifth place with Orange Coast College’s Mariana Perez-Seda in the 50-yard backstroke with times of 27.42. For Duran’s 200-yard individual medley, she finished seventh with a time of 2:13.32.

Duran’s last event at the CCCAA Swim and Dive Championship was the 100-yard backstroke, and she finished with a time of 59.21. Duran did not finish in the top eight in the prelims, and if she did, Duran would have finished in fifth place.

Santa Rosa Junior College won the women’s title with a score of 578, and OCC won the men’s title with a 655 over Santa Rosa’s 392.

“The state meet was extremely fast this year for junior college swimming . Allison had her best time in all three of her events.”

“I’m happy with the way the season turned out with the two fourth place finishes at the [Western State] conference meet.”

Pike talked about Duran’s plans after BC.

“She’s looking at University of Hawaii. She’s talked with the coach over there. She wants to pursue her swimming in Hawaii. She’s talked to schools in this area: University of the Pacific, Cal State [Bakersfield]’s talked to her about coming over there to swim. So, she’s got some options, but she’s definitely leaning toward Hawaii right now.”

Pike also mentioned how the new swimming suits are affecting the swimmers times.’

“Part of it is the [new] swimming suits. I never thought I’d see the day when swimsuits would have such a big impact on swimming. Those high-tech suits are making kids float higher, so there’s a lot of debate out there amongst the coaches about where swimming is going to go because adding a $500 suit really adds expense to the whole thing.”