Men's Swimming scored 884 total points to easily out pace Runner-up Bakersfield, who compiled 473 points, and claim the program's 17th Western State Conference title. The Cougars, who hosted the conference championships, won 14 of 18 swimming events, including all five relays, and brought home all the awards. 2021 Cuesta College Athlete of the Year Lucas Esenwein shared tri-WSC Swimmer of the Year Awards with teammates Stash Perry and Andrew Lopez as they all went undefeated on the weekend with three event titles each. Esenwein set the tone with two new Cuesta Records in the featured 50 and 100-freestyles. He dropped his own 50-freestyle record to :20.53 and slipped past Chris Reddick's 2014 mark in the 100-freestyle by .05 with a time of :45.22. He also moved into 3rd all time for Cuesta after winning the 100-butterfly in :51.47. While Esenwein dominated the sprints, Perry swept the distance freestyle events by taking the 200 (1:42.91), 500 (4:37.92) and 1,650 (16:36.65) with new Cuesta Top 10 times. His time in the 500-freestyle also broke Casey Lyon's 1994 record, which had been the oldest record on the books. Lopez dominated his specialty with a pair of wins in the Breaststroke, before adding the 200 Individual Medley. He broke Austin Bauer's 2014 records in both the 100 (:56.83) and 200 (2:06.47) Breaststrokes and is currently ranked 4th all time for the 200-individual medley (1:54.85). Triple event winners are a rarity at the Western State Conference Championships and to have three from one team is unprecedented, so Esenwein, Perry and Lopez all shared the award. The trio's honor marks the first time a Cuesta Cougar has won the award since Jeremiah Jacobs in 2001. Cuesta Coach John Marsh also continued to thrive coming out of the pandemic. Marsh, who was also the 2021 WSC Men's Water Polo Coach of the Year, added the 2022 Western State Conference Men's Swim Coach of the Year to his collection. The honor marked the third time he has received the award, but the first time it has been in the same school year as one of his seven water polo honors. Men's Swimming's 17 conference titles trails only men's water polo (29), women's swimming (22), baseball (18) and women's volleyball (18) for the most trophies in the case, however baseball is currently in first place and chasing its 19th title.
Cuesta Men's Swimming has won every event it has competed in this season and only has the 2022 CCCAA State Championship, starting May 5 at East LA College, left on the schedule. The Aqua-Cats have finished 2nd at the CCCAA State Championships three times (1995, 2001, 2002) and are in position to bring home Cuesta College's first State Title since Women's Volleyball brought home back-to-back championships in 1985 and 1986.
2022 Cuesta Men's Swim & Dive- All Western State Conference Honors
Lucas Esenwein (1st)- 50-Freestyle
Lucas Esenwein (1st)- 100-Freestyle
Lucas Esenwein (1st)- 100-Butterfly
Andrew Lopez (1st)- 100-Breaststroke
Andrew Lopez (1st)- 200-Breaststroke
Andrew Lopez (1st)- 400-Individual Medley
Stash Perry (1st)- 200-Freestyle
Stash Perry (1st)- 500-Freestyle
Stash Perry (1st)- 1650-Freestyle
Ethan Perry (2nd)- 100-Backstroke
Ethan Perry (2nd)- 200-Backstroke
Caleb Ray (2nd)- 500-Freestyle
Caleb Ray (2nd)- 1650-Freestyle
Joao Avanzi-Mesquita (2nd)- 200-Butterfly
Ethan Perry (3rd)- 400-Individual Medley
Caleb Ray (3rd)- 500-Freestyle
Ethan Streker (3rd)- 200-Freestyle
Eron Ray (3rd)- 100-Backstroke
Dean Moody (3rd)- 100-Breaststroke
Ethan Streker (4th)- 500-Freestyle
Ethan Streker (4th)- 1650-Freestyle
Eron Ray (4th)- 200-Backstroke
Eron Ray (4th)- 200-Individual Medley
Ethan Blum (4th)- 100-Freestyle
Ethan Blum (4th)- 100-Butterfly
Ethan Blum (5th)- 50-Freestyle
Dean Moody (5th)- 200-Breaststroke
Joao Avanzi-Mesquita (5th)- 400-Individual Medley
Tre Eade (5th)- 100-Backstroke
Tre Eade (5th)- 200-Backstroke
Zach Tucker (5th)- 100-Breaststroke
1st Place- All-WSC First Team; 2nd Place- All-WSC Second Team, 3rd-5th All-WSC Honorable Mention
