Pictured are the 2024-25 JCC swimming and diving teams. Submitted photo

The Jamestown Community College men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams enter this weekend’s Region 3 championships with lofty expectations, and rightfully so; the ladies are not just the defending champs, but they also finished a perfect 12-0 in league meets, while the men never finished worse than second in any of those competitions.

“We start every year with similar goals: the first is to get better every day,” Jayhawks head coach Todd Conklin said. “Next is to win the league title and then focus on the championship season. Anytime you go into a regional championship, you know the competition will be better, and they will all be better. It does not matter what we have done because we don’t focus on the past; we focus on this weekend, and I know the kids will be ready and up for the challenge.”

Conklin has good reason to feel his student-athletes will be up for the challenge. His teams have dominated the water so far this year. Leading the women are returning All-Americans Ashlynn Swan and Anna Jones. Jones, as well as freshmen Desiree Putt and Addison Lawson, have earned Region 3 Swimmer of the Week awards during the 2024-25 campaign. Ashlynn has continued to rewrite the Jamestown CC record books in the diving well; meanwhile, teammates Sophia Gervasio, Haleigha Harda, Jalyn Linton, Emily Swan and the Jayhawks mentioned previously have all earned wins on the season.

“Both the men’s and women’s teams have positioned themselves well for the meet and have a lot of opportunities to win some events and bring home some regional hardware,” Conklin added. “As coaches, this is our exciting time as we see all the hard work come to fruition and see what else we need to do for the national championship meet in a few weeks.”

As for the men, they are led by record breaker Kyle Dean, who has also earned a Region 3 Athlete of the Week award. The sophomore shares that title with South African Zach Johnson, who may be a freshman, but he witnessed his older brother, Maxim, become an All-American last year, so the spotlight shouldn’t be too big for the younger Johnson. Those two are joined by Cameron Milewski and Christian Merrill in breaking the program’s 200 medley relay record this year. The men will also lean on sophomores Kyle Camp and Randall Hall, as well as freshmen Noah Miles and Owen Slojkowski, to try and earn the men’s first regional crown.

“We remember every race is an opportunity to learn and improve,” Conklin said. “We’re approaching the big meet with confidence and knowing we have set ourselves up for a great performance. I’m excited to watch some fast swimming and bring home some more hardware for our championship programs.”

The Region 3 championships take place at Erie CC today, Saturday and Sunday.