The Bakersfield College women’s swimming season is coming to a close with one more meet to go, though there is one swimmer who has been improving and been racking up points with each meet, and her name is Jennifer Quan. With every meet Quan has competed in, she has been competitive and working hard to get the best times she can in her events. She believes that she is reaching the goals she set for herself with the huge help of Coach Matthew Moon and her teammates.

“I had the chance to have an amazing and dedicated team this year. Everybody got along, which is always good since we spent so much time together. Knowing that everyone is working hard, motivates me to push my limits a little bit further at every practice to not disappoint the rest of the team. Coach Moon is a very patient person who knows how to listen and is always positive, which are qualities that I look for in a coach,” said Quan. At just 7 years old, Quan was learning how to swim, and two years later she began to swim competitively and loved it instantly.

She continued swimming in a club when she attended Bakersfield High School to stay in shape so she could be able to compete during off season. The reason why she loves swimming is because she finds it to be very therapeutic and has been a part of her life for a long time, so she gained a lot of experience, and with years of swimming she knows it’s the right sport for her.

“My parents signed me up for swim lessons, and I simply never thought about doing, or playing other sports,” she said. “Being in the water helps me to clear my mind, it is where I am the most comfortable. “For me the pool is a very peaceful environment where I can be in way, in my own world. Also, I am not very coordinated so I cannot catch or throw a ball, and I do not like running, which do not give me a very wide selection of sports I can do beside swimming,” said Quan.

“I grew up with this sport. It always has been part of my life. Swimming taught me a lot of things throughout the years. It helped me gain experience in many domains. Traveling often with a team for sometimes two or three weeks at a young age taught me how to be independent, and responsible. “Swimming can be a very boring sport. Waking up at 5 a.m. to go to practice, and looking at the bottom of a pool for hours twice a day is honestly not really fun, but the satisfaction at the end of the day and the thought of knowing that each practice will bring me closer to my goals is what gets me going. Therefore, swimming also taught me to work hard, and be perseverant not only in the water but in everything I do in life.”

Out of the pool, Quan is going to school and majoring in political science and is planning to go to a four-year college, and if the opportunity came up, she would definitely like to keep swimming after transferring from Bakersfield College. Though apart from swimming and school, Quan likes to hang out with her friends and go watch a movie with them, or just enjoys a quiet night at home watching television. Out of all the meets Quan participated in, the Western State Conference #3 on March 31 was her favorite one this season, because of the competition and gave her a better understanding of how her season is going.

“[Western State Conference #3] was my favorite. Since we trained and got ready the entire year for this meet, it is very satisfying to see all the work put in finally paying off. In addition, it is the last meet of the year, so it is at this point that I draw an overall conclusion about the season, and take the best out of it, but I also look at what did not go as planned to make sure to not do the same mistakes next season.” Quan took a look back at the season and believes that the goals she has set for herself for her freshman year from the beginning have been met, and is excited to come back next season to reach more goals that she couldn’t complete this year.

Jennifer Quan placed third in the 400-yard IM with a time of 4:59.53 at the latest swim meet at the Western States Conference Championships that started on April 20 and ended on the 22. In the men’s swimming team, the most noticeable placements were Brian Bender placing second in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 58.70 and third in the 200-yard breast with a time of 2:12.70. Andrew Martinez placed third in the 400-yard IM with a time of 4:28.91.

Out of 10 schools including BC, both the men’s and women’s teams combined ended in third place with a total of 682 points. The last meet for both the women’s and men’s swimming team will be the CCCAA State Championships at East LA on May 4 and will end on May 6.