Valeria Santana has been a competitive swimmer for the past 5 years. She grew up in Bakersfield where she attended Mira Monte High School and discovered her love for swimming. She swam on the Varsity team for 3 of the 4 years and eventually joined our team before her last year. At her last high school swim meet she broke Mira Monte’s women’s 200 IM record. After high school she continued her educational career at Bakersfield College, where she is currently swimming on Bakersfield College’s swim team, mainly swimming the 200 and 400 IM. At the end of her first year on the college team she was awarded the ‘Renegade’ award by her coaches for being determined to reach her goals, supportive of her teammates, and always being ready to cheer for others at the end of the pool. Valeria has learned that swimming is a tough sport especially when you feel you are alone, which is why she believes having a supportive and positive team is important. She hopes to not only build her swimmer’s love for the sport but their love for their teammates and coaches as well.

Victoria Hernandez has been a competitive swimmer for 14 years.  Victoria is also one of our own.  She grew up in the BAC swimming program having been a member of our team as a swimmer for 9 years and a coach for 2.5 years.  She attended East Bakersfield High School and competed for their varsity team all four years leading as Captain of the team her Junior and Senior years.  At East she qualified for the CIF Valley Championships 4 years in a row, won 4 bronze and 2 silver medals at her high school league championships, and was unchallenged as her team's leading backstroker the entire time.  She has won numerous awards for her acheivements in the pool and as a team leader.  She was awarded Most Inspirational twice and recieved the coveted "Coaches Award" her senior year.  She attended Bakersfield College, where she was co-captain for the girls team for 2 years and graduated in 2018.  From an early age Victoria knew swimming was in her blood.  This is evident by her dedication to BAC and her passion for the swim community.  Her love for the sport is infectious and she hopes to inspire future champions while working with BAC!