Women fourth at latest OEC event

Delaney Cowan has another big meet

An outdoor daytime photo captures a line of competitive swimmers at the start of a race. The focus is on five female swimmers positioned on numbered starting blocks (labeled 8, 9, and 10).

Subject Action: The swimmers are bent over in a crouched starting position, gripping the front edge of the diving blocks with their hands, their bodies tensed in anticipation of the starting signal.

Attire: They wear dark, competitive one-piece swimsuits, goggles, and swim caps. The caps feature various team logos, including

March 21, 2026

The Saddleback women's swimming and diving team was back in the water on Friday at the second Orange Empire Conference event of the year at Orange Coast College. The Bobcats finished fourth in the standings.

Saddleback's leader all season has been Delaney Cowan, who routinely leads the team in points every meet. Cowan was again impressive on Friday, winning two events while finishing third in another. Cowan won the 200 Butterfly in a time of 2:25.48 to win by over five seconds. She also had a comfortable win in the 400 Individual Medley with a time of 4:59.36. Cowan was third in the 200 Individual Medley when she touched the pad in 2:25.11.

Saddleback had a number of other top five finishes on the day. Tatum O'Brien finished second in the 1650 Freestyle when had a season-best time of 21:37.08. Leila Hadhoud finished third in the 1650 Freestyle with a season-best time of 21:54.09 while finishing fifth in the 500 Freestyle with a season-best time of 6:21.18. Sophia Banua set her season-best mark in the 100 Individual Medley when she finished third in a time of 1:12.12.

Saddleback finished fourth as a team, earning 352 team points. It was an improvement of 58 points from the opening meet when the team finished fifth.

Saddleback swim will be back in the water on April 16-17 at the OEC Finals at Orange Coast College.