Nickey Hale, a South Coast Conference double event champion last year, has returned to lead the Pasadena City College women's swim team into the 2023 season.

Hale tops a 7-player roster for PCC and is already off to a strong start after two meets, including her performance at the SCC Pentathlon held Friday at El Camino College.

At the pentathlon, Hale scored second overall in five individual events out of 57 swimmers from the SCC swim colleges: PCC, El Camino, Mt. San Antonio, Long Beach CC, Cerritos, Rio Hondo, Chaffey, and East Los Angeles. 

Hale had to take second chair to El Camino's uber freshman Mia Park, who made a complete sweep by winning all five events. Hale was second overall in the 100-yard freestyle (57.61 seconds), third in the 200 individual medley (2:27.63), fourth in both the 100 butterfly (1:05.91) and 100 backstroke (1:07.98), and settled for 16th in the 100 breaststroke (1:24.78). 

From Crescenta Valley High, the sophomore is known for her distance swimming as she scored a fifth place medal in the 400 IM and placed ninth in the 1,650 freestyle at the 2022 CCCAA State Championship Meet. Hale was the conference champion in both the 400 IM and 500 freestyle.

Another returning swimmer is Berte Montes, who was a seventh place conference finisher last season in the 100 freestyle. 

Of the newcomers, Arabella Carboni, a standout who swam club at Rose Bowl Aquatics, showed her talents well at the SCC Pentathlon. Carboni swam in three events, placing third overall in the 100 breaststroke (1:18.03), seventh in the 100 freestyle (1:01.74), and 10th in the 100 backstroke (1:12.50). 

Another strong freshman is Emily Padilla, from Paloma Valley High (Menifee), who was 22nd in overall standings. Padilla best swims were 11th in the 100 butterfly (1:12.92) and 27th in the 200 IM (2:51.70). 

Katia Peel (San Marino HS) also swam at the pentathlon in the 100 freestyle, placing 59th (1:29.06) and expected to improve as the season moves on.

"I was excited to see both Nickey and Arabella represent us well against the top tier of South Coast Conference swimmers," said PCC head coach Terry Stoddard, now in his 23rd season as aquatics coach at PCC. "The SCC Pentathlon is a great way for us to see where our strengths are and what areas we need training."

The roster is rounded out by freshmen Dymaris Gonzalez (Long Beach Poly HS) and Natasha Oman (Pasadena High). 

At the season-opening El Camino Invitational on Feb. 4, the Lancers placed fourth as a team as Hale won three events--the 100 IM (1:07.71), the 200 IM (2:26.59) and 300 IM (3:47.71). Carboni was fourth in the 50 breaststroke (36.08), Padilla was seventh in the first 100 freestyle (1:06.17) and eighth in both the first 200 free (2:27.32) and 500 free (6:46.04). 

The Lancers next will swim at the Mt. SAC Invitational on Feb. 24-25.