Orange Coast holds off Golden West for Orange Empire Conference men’s swim and dive title

MISSION VIEJO - The Orange Coast College Pirates won the 2025 Orange Empire Conference swim title on Saturday at Saddleback College.  The Pirates held off a charge from Golden West College in capturing the title.

Orange Coast now becomes one of the favorites at the 3C2A State Championships at the beginning of May in Santa Rosa.  The Orange Empire Conference (OEC) has long been one of the top conferences in the state in men's swimming, winning 14 state titles since the beginning of the century and 33 total titles since the sport was introduced in 1948.  From 1990 to 2001 the conference never lost a state title, with Golden West winning nine titles and Orange Coast winning three over a 12-year span. 

Orange Coast won the 2025 OEC crown with depth as the Pirates won just two individual races and two relay events all weekend.  Golden West made a vicious charge in the afternoon and had a brief lead heading into the last few events before the Pirate depth took over the meet. 

Golden West had five individual wins for the meet.  Three of the wins were turned in by Jake M. Kiss, who was named the Swimmer-of-the-Meet.  Cypress College’s Niccolo Scornaienghi was named the Diver-of-the-Meet.  Riverside City led the meet with six individual wins and two relay wins.

Team Scores:
Orange Coast - 852
Golden West - 811
Riverside City - 650
Cypress - 325
Saddleback - 289

Individual Event Winners:
200 Freestyle Relay
Riverside City, 1:24.00

500 Freestyle
Ryan Novak, Golden West, 4:34.39

200 Individual Medley              
Jake M. Kiss, Golden West, 1:53.42

50 Freestyle
Yousef Nahali, Riverside City, 20.62

400 Medley Relay
Orange Coast, 3:31.55

3-Meter Diving
Niccolo Scornaienghi, Cypress, 262.45

200 Medley Relay
Riverside City, 1:30.68

400 Individual Medley
Jake M. Kiss, Golden West, 4:02.60

100 Butterfly
Zekiah Serrano, Riverside City, 48.75

200 Freestyle
Gavin McNeal, Orange Coast, 1:43.89

100 Breaststroke
Jared Ladinez, Riverside City, 55.42

100 Backstroke
Lennon Franklin, Riverside City, 50.85

800 Freestyle Relays
Golden West, 6:57.36

1-Meter Diving
Niccolo Scornaienghi, Cypress, 233.40

1,650 Freestyle
Ryan Novak, Golden West, 16:02.82

100 Individual Medley
Zekiah Serrano, Riverside City, 50.90

200 Backstroke
Jake M. Kiss, Golden West, 1:53.19

100 Freestyle
Yousef Nahali, Riverside City, 45.55

200 Breaststroke                        
Jared Ladinez, Riverside City, 2:06.06

200 Butterfly                                  
Kevin Li, Orange Coast, 1:53.32

400 Freestyle Relay
Orange Coast, 3:06.41

(Brad Hoiseth, Saddleback College)