COLLEGE SWIMMING:VIZCARRA DOESN'T QUIT, IT PAYS OFF:FORMER PETALUMA SWIMMER HELPS LEAD CSU BAKERSFIELD TO A CONFERENCE TITLE

The desire to compete was at low ebb for All-Empire swimmer Evan Vizcarra.

Despite coming off another strong season at Petaluma High, the Trojans' record holder wondered if he would ever race again.

"I was almost burned out. I had no idea where I was going to college. But I decided to give it another shot," he said.

Good thing he stayed in the water. Vizcarra helped lead Cal State Bakersfield men's team to a conference title this year, earning freshman of the year honors in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

Such success at the NCAA Division I level came as little surprise to Bakersfield coach Chris Hansen.

"Evan's biggest strength is his attitude. In my 21 years of coaching, he has by far been one of the most motivated and hardest workers I have ever coached," Hansen said. "He wants to be good."

Vizcarra's power in the pool was evident his freshman year at Petaluma, breaking out as one of the region's top distance freestyle swimmers.

Earning All-Empire honors as a sophomore and junior, Vizcarra then was slowed by a right shoulder strain. Swimming shorter distances in the free and backstroke as a senior, he still was among the region's best.

Bakersfield offered Vizcarra a chance to keep swimming. Hansen in his first year leading the Roadrunners coached Vizcarra's older brother Nathan. Evan and his parents attended many meets.

"I had seen him swim and I knew there was a talented swimmer in there somewhere," Hansen said.

After another summer of training at Westside swim club in Petaluma, he faced the rigorous level of college conditioning when practices started in September. Swimming six days a week, the athletes also are in the weight room three days in addition to running workouts.

"Everybody on the team wants to win. I ended up dropping a lot of times in all my events," he said.

His role on the Bakersfield team was set one day in practice. Given a set of freestyles, Vizcarra was the best at long distances.

At season's end, he had the teams' best times for the 500 free and 1,000 free and the third leading mark in the 200 butterfly.

Over the next three years at Bakersfield, his goal in the pool is reaching the NCAA championships.

Far from burned out, Vizcarra is fired up. "If I make NCAAs, bigger things come up after that," he said.