De Anza’s swim teams boasted their talents at the Coast Conference Championships held from April 17-19 at the College of San Mateo.
Diverse teams from 12 California community colleges participated in the conference. After competing in numerous events, the Mountain Lions finished the meet with the women’s division placed fourth with 446 points, and the men’s division winning the championship with 620.5 points in total.
De Anza’s roster contains two outstanding swimmers who performed actively through the whole conference.
Joyce Lin, 25, kinesiology major, won the women’s 200-yard individual medley (2:11.28), 100 backstroke (58.34) and 200 breaststroke (2:24.01) and had the honor of being the triple-crown winner. Lin also earned the 2025 Coast Conference Female Swimmer of the Year.
Taesu Yim, 21, business administration major, won the men’s 500 freestyle (4:44.51), 200 freestyle (1:43.10) and 1,650 freestyle (16:35.77), ending up receiving three medals on his neck. Yim has also been selected as the 2025 Coast Conference Male Co-Swimmer of the Year.
Even though Yim took up a gold medal, he still believes there is room for improvement.
“If I had to put it on a scale from one to 10, I would say about seven,” Yim said.
Yim said he was satisfied that his team was ranked at the top, but had some personal disappointment towards his performance for the team.
“I also have to credit my coach Tammy, for really pushing some of the finer details of racing, such as pushing off a little bit deeper off of the walls to increase my own plays,” Yim said.
Jaden Reyna, 19, psychology major, explained the source of her motivation towards swimming.
“During the meets, it’s really motivating to see your teammates on the side of the walls, cheering you on and yelling for you, and … to know that you’re loved,” Reyna said.
Reyna’s next goal is to compete in events typically touted as “the most challenging,” such as the 1,650 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 400 individual medley and 200 butterfly. She said her personal goal is to show herself that she can achieve anything, even if she may not be the fastest swimmer.
Danielle Altman, head coach of the men’s and women’s swimming teams, expressed satisfaction with her athletes’ performances.
“We had some great swims and some Coast Conference Champions today, which is awesome,” Altman said.
Altman said swimming is a sport that is done year-round, and athletes build their progress from the fall into the winter quarter.
“It takes a lot of dedication from the swimmers and divers, and it’s practice. Practice is what gets it done,” Altman said.
