Cuesta Men's Swim and Dive won the three-day 2026 Western State Conference Championship, while crushing the competition by 340 points.  The win marked the team's third title under Coach Greg Enloe and its 21st conference title since 1980, as well as sixth in a row.  The team's victory also provided Cuesta Athletics with its first conference title of the year, while leaving the 2016-17 school year as the department's only year without a title since 1974, including the Covid years.  In a show of solidarity among the Cougars' aquatic programs, which began in 1979, men's water polo leads all of Cuesta's athletic programs with 32 conference titles, while women's and men's swimming own 22 and 21 titles, respectively.  Of course, women's water polo did not begin until 1999 and is still trying to catch up.  With all the trophy hoarding, Cuesta Athletics is still chasing their first 3C2A State Championship since Women's Volleyball won back-to-back titles in 1985 and 1986.  

 

Men's Swimming dominated the 2026 Western State Conference Championships behind 2025 3C2A State Swimmer of the Year Grant Huston and the Cougars are hoping to bring home the team Gold at the 2026 3C2A State Championships in May.  Huston has been on a mission this season, and his dominance is one meet away from legendary status.  He owns the top time in the State in all but three events, while also ranking among the Top 3 in each of those events.  On campus, he owns 17 of the Cougars' 18 all-time records and ranks 2nd in the non-championship 50-backstroke.  Huston is joined in the lanes by fellow returning All American Brady Lind, while Cuesta's 50-Backstroke Record Holder Freshman Zach Pechan is part of a freshman class that offers enough talent and versatility to pile up the points.  Pechan owns two Cuesta Top10 marks, while Freshman Jett Hardy pinned his name to the Top 10 in both the butterfly and backstroke events.  The versatile CJ Simmons and Trevin Wood will join Tanner Alford to give the Cougars depth and talent in nearly every event.  

 

The women's team won the most recent of its 22 titles in 2021 on the tail of the pandemic, but two years later in 2023, the Cougars reached their nadir.  The program that had only finished outside of the Top 5 in conference once over the past quarter of a century grounded into 10th place in a ten-team conference.  The Cougars' program bumped up the next year ,when Coach Rachel Shiffrar took over the next season.   Shifrar helped the Cougars rebound into contention. Last season, the Cougars moved up to 4th in the WSC, while also scoring at the 3C2A State Meet.  However, Shiffrar has been out this season, for personal reasons, but the Cougars still jumped up in the standings and finished 3rd in the WSC under the guidance of the Cougars' longtime Diving Coach Coral Minton.  Returning All American Annika Pauschek shall continue to lead the team in the lanes, as she vies to become one of Cuesta's few aquatic athletes to earn all-State honors four times.  Fellow Sophomores Kailey Ardouin, Amelia Braun and Ryder Gangemi have all posted, at least one, Cuesta All-Time Top 10 mark, so Coach Minton will rely on them to carry the team into the rankings. 

 

The 2026 3C2A State Swim and Dive Championships shall be hosted in Costa Mesa at Orange Coast College on April 30, May 1-2.  

 

 

Grant Huston- 200-Individual Medley- Champion.                                                                          

Grant Huston- 200-Breaststroke- Champion                                                                                  

Grant Huston- 100-Individual Medley- Champion

Brady Lind- 200-Butterfly- Champion

Brady Lind- 100-Butterfly- Third Place

Thor Samuel- 1,650-Freestyle- Third Place

Thor Samuel- 500-Freestyle- Third Place

Thor Samuel- 200-Freestyle- Fourth Place

Cohen Swanson- 3-Meter Diving- Third Place

Zach Pechan- 100-Backstroke- Third Place

CJ Simmons- 200-Freestyle- Third Place

CJ Simmons- 100-Freestyle- Fifth Place

CJ Simmons- 500-Freestyle- Fifth Place

Trevin Wood- 100-Individual Medley-Third Place

Manel Grossi- 200-Butterfly- Third Place

Luke Paley- 200-Butterfly- Fourth Place

Haiden Coulter- 1-Meter Diving- Fourth Place

Zach Pechan- 200-Backstroke- Fifth Place

Tanner Alford- 100-Breaststroke- Fifth Place

Conlan Coulter- 200-Butterfly- Fifth Place

 

Annika Pauschek- 500-Freestyle- Third Place

Annika Pauschek- 100-Backstroke- Third Place

Annika Pauschek- 200-Backstroke- Third Place

Tristen Bettencourt- 1,650-Freestyle- Third Place

Raylee Anderson- 1-Meter Diving- Third Place

Kailey Ardouin- 100-Individual Medley-Fourth Place

Amelia Braun- 400-Individual Medley- Fourth Place

Tristen Bettencourt- 200-Freestyle- Fifth Place

Tristen Bettencourt- 500-Freestyle- Fifth Place

Allie Anderson- 3-Meter Diving- Fifth Place