For the COC Swim and Dive team It has been more than just competing in another season.
It’s a shift in leadership, with a first-year head coach taking the reins.
Head coach Erik Matheson has stepped on deck to lead the Cougars this season, finding his rhythm with all seven of his competitors.
“I think we’ve been doing great,” said Matheson.
“Coming in, it’s kind of bringing the team back together again. It’s been a little bit all over the place the last couple of years. New coach coming in also throws a twist on it,” said Matheson.
For the new voice, it’s a brand-new change of scenery at College of the Canyons. He served as the women’s swim and dive associate coach at Loyola Marymount University for three years.
“There’s the experience of swimming, from the athletes themselves. You had swimmers who have been swimming for their whole lives, and their goal was to make it on the NCAA team,” said Matheson.
But the coach has never shied away from inspiring his squad, as he said the sport gave him a way to feel his best and his athletes a way to stay balanced.
“You know, there’s the healthy lifestyle, just physically, your physical health and all that, just exercising, how to go about exercising,” said Matheson.
“That’s one thing I try to instill in them.”
“To me, that’s a big thing nowadays, as far as how do you balance all these? I mean, the regimen of a student athlete is a lot.”
For Coach Matheson’s roster of six swimmers and just one diver. They say the sense of unity runs deep beneath the surface.
“I feel very included with my team, we’re ride or die for each other,” said Nicole Lerma, the swim team’s only diver.
“We’re here for each other when we’re having low days. And the excitement that we all bring is powerful.”
“It’s not the same as when I went to high school and had like 50 kids on a team,” said Bretton Williams, COC Free and Dive swimmer.
“I feel like it’s more fun because we’re there are so little of us that we’re just getting so close to each other.”
