Two weekends ago, the No. 12 UCLA swimming and diving team
traveled north to Berkeley and Stanford, narrowly losing both meets
despite securing 22 season and lifetime bests.
The overall losses sent the Bruins plummeting down the national
rankings and left the team focused on picking up a win.
After a bye week, the Bruins will finally get a chance tomorrow
against USC, and while all other sports may concentrate on the
“Beat ‘SC” aspect of the crosstown rivalry, the
swimming and diving team focuses more on the competitive
atmosphere.
“The bigger the rivalry, the better the swimming,”
UCLA head coach Cyndi Gallagher said. “And since it’s
USC, we’re expecting at least one person who we’d never
guess to go crazy at this meet.”
The meet is at USC’s McDonald Swim Stadium this Saturday,
where the Trojans boast the best diving team in the nation. The
meet will also conclude Pac-10 competition for the Bruins, and set
the scene for the conference championships in another two
weeks.
Last week’s break from competition gave the Bruins the
opportunity to work on gaining speed with more intense practices.
Women’s water polo head coach Adam Krikorian also took the
opportunity to make an appearance at practice and address the
team.
“The team just loves listening to coach Krikorian,”
Gallagher said. “He’s an extremely dynamic speaker, and
he’s so inspirational. He makes them laugh.”
The Bruin spirit will also be carried out in cheers and team
activities that have inevitably become a part of the tradition
before the USC meet. For many of the swimmers, Saturday will be the
last meet they’ll compete in as a Bruin.
Spurred on by the rivalry, the team anticipates an even more
exciting weekend than the Bay Area trip.
“The (two previous) meets were the most exciting that
I’ve ever been to. We almost beat a team that had beaten
USC,” senior Stacy Kearney said. “It just shows how
much potential we have.”
The No. 4 Trojans currently hold a nine-meet winning streak
against the Bruins, and this Saturday will also count towards the
season-long Lexus Gauntlet Challenge.
“USC’s swimming is doing very well, and
they’re an obvious challenge for us,” Gallagher said.
“But there are lots of ways we can win, not just by the end
results.”
“No matter where you are, either in the men’s gym
pool or in the Olympics, it’s still just a lane,” she
added.