Many residents of Santa Maria and the Central Coast turned out to cheer on their local Olympic favorite, 23-year-old Josh Prenot as he swam to a silver medal Wednesday night during the Men's 200 Meter Breaststroke competition at the Olympic games in Rio.
The large viewing party was at the Santa Maria Swim Club where Prenot trained for years.
His coach, and the Club's General Manager, Michael Ashmore told KCBX News that the pressure of being on the world stage could derail some athletes, but Prenot has maintained his temperament leading up to Wednesday's big final swim.
"[Tuesday] night looked really relaxed and it looked like he a lot more left in the tank for [Wednesday]," Ashmore said. "If he can stay connected to all of that and be patient, I think he can be really successful."
Turns out Prenot did stay connected and was successful.
Prenot was the top-ranked Team USA swimmer in the event. USA's Kevin Cordes also competed, but didn't medal.
Prenot currently goes to UC Berkeley, but grew up in Orcutt after moving to the Central Coast as a child.