The 2010-2011 De Anza College Swimming and Diving team finished up a successful season managing to stay afloat and dominate most of their meets.

This year, Foothill College was the Dons’ toughest competition. Although the team did not manage to beat their long time rivals, they still had a lot to be proud of, according to coach Danielle Altman Von Matt.

Brian Peters finished the season on a high-note snagging an All-American title. Tommy Truong didn’t make quite the last splash he wanted, missed qualifying for the state meet by .02 seconds.

“It was disappointing that they only take the top six from the event and I was ranked seventh,”  said Truong.

Truong’s teammate, Courtney Kreitner, was in a similar position missing the cutoff for the state diving competition by just three ranks.

“It’s really easy to psych yourself out, nerves and stuff,” said fellow diver Lisa Yokoyama. “You can work all season, but a lot of times it comes down to one dive on a board that you may not have been on before, it’s a mental game.”

Overall, the men’s swimming team finished second in the conference, behind Foothill College. Truong considers this season a big accomplishment compared to previous years, where the team lacked depth and didn’t have enough swimmers to cover each event.

This season, the women’s swim team was in a similar position to last year’s men’s team after they lost a lot of solid swimmers, said Yokoyama. This year, the team tried their hardest and did the best with the swimmers they had.  Previously, the Women’s Swimming and Diving team won the Coast Conference title in 2009 and 2010.

“Our numbers were down this year,” said Von Matt, talking about the number of swimmers who came out to compete during the season. But, she said, “the core individual performances were excellent.”

Von Matt is currently recruiting local talent for the Swimming and Diving team’s 2012 season by going out to high school championships and keeping an eye out for potential students who can represent the Dons in the pool next season.

FINDING THE STREAMLINE – Sophomore Tommy Truong uses his arms to gain momentum off the starting blocks in the 200 yard breast stroke. He finished third overall with a time of 2 (PHOTO COURTESY OF NANCY YOKOYAMA)