February 10, 2025

Who’s in that Lane for September of 2025?! Johnny Potenza and JP Llanos, that’s who!!

Just a reminder that these Who’s In That Lane! pieces celebrate our club and our teammates, and help us to get to better know our lanemates and the people in those lanes over there! I know we all enjoy being a part of CVMM, and it’s even better when more of us really know each other!  

Johnny Potenza

Let’s start with Johnny Potenza! I believe this is our first full other half (I’m not going to use the term better half – who am I to judge?) of a couple where both have been featured in Who’s In That Lane? I’m sure they both consider it a highlight in their relationship. Johnny had never participated in lap swimming before joining CVMM. How did he fill all of those hours as a kid?  Well – he played a lot of baseball – eventually pitching on his high school team.  And he’s watched every episode of The Twilight Zone plenty of times. But it did mean that Coach Nancy has had to give him a lot of tips on his form. He appreciates them and they are clearly paying off!

While he’s not yet in Lane 1 with girlfriend and October featured Ali English, he’s now clipping along pretty darn fast – making his repeated 100s on a 1:30 interval. Nice! He even swam in his first meet in Long Beach last December. He said he was super nervous, but enjoyed it so much he wants to do it again. Johnny loves having our CVMM coaches push him and give him tips, and he is always more relaxed after one of our workouts. I prefer the word exhausted, but to each his own! Johnny seems pretty motivated to get into that fast lane, and his trajectory looks good. We are rooting for you.

Outside of CVMM, Johnny has always been an LA guy. Raised in Ventura, earning a BS in Finance at CSUN, working in Simi Valley in the aerospace industry, and a lifelong Dodgers fan. It’s a good time to be a Dodgers fan, right! He’s even seen the Dodgers play in 15 different major league stadiums. Super cool! His future trips will have a lot more stadiums, and plenty of camping at Kings Canyon National Park.

You’ll find Johnny swimming in our MWF evening and Saturday morning workouts. Thanks for being part of us, Johnny. Your commitment and improvement are an inspiration.

JP Llanos

And now to JP! Jean-Pierre (JP) Llanos has been a part of CVMM since 2022. JP is now in his 50s, and one of my favorite things that I have learned is how he described his entry into all things athletic, “I discovered my athletic side when I was 50, never did any sport whatsoever before, and now I am totally addicted to it. Moving to Southern California 6 years ago really helped with that change.” We hear about so many journeys in swimming and athletics that bring us all together at CVMM, and I love JP’s journey.

JP’s current athletic  journey is focused on 70.3 triathlons. Nothing like going from zero to 80 when you jump into sports. He enjoys swimming with CVMM, particularly in the months before his next triathlon. He is comfortable swimming 100s at a 1:50 pace, and I’m guessing he enjoys our less choppy and much warmer water. Like so many of us, JP enjoys being with friends during our workouts. I’ve said this before, but non-swimmers don’t get how social swimming is. And his favorite set is anything pulling. I have not heard that one yet. He also would prefer to avoid all kicking sets. I’ve heard that one a lot. He has not yet joined us at a swim meet, but he has not ruled it out. I have a feeling that Nancy will wear him down, and he’ll join us soon.

We have a lot of impressive people in our CVMM group, and JP’s career as a Pediatric Pulmonologist and Leader at Amgen puts him on that list. With his Peruvian and German heritage, he finds his time split between three continents. And being a lover of fine food, he gets to experience tri-continental dining as well. I asked JP if he had to pick his favorite continent food, which it would be. JP said it was a hard call, but Europe, and in particular, there’s this one place in Barcelona. . . . He loves his three daughters, and enjoys all the time he gets withhis Frenchie (Chad) at home in Moorpark.

So thanks to our CVMM lanemates Johnny and JP for letting us all learn more about them. Say hello to them no matter what lane you’re in!

To see previous Who’s In That Lane pieces, please click here.