After a season full of narrow defeats, the UCLA swimming and
diving team will take another shot at redemption.
The squad has shown consistent improvement in speed and
technique over the last few meets, but will look to translate that
into victories this weekend at the Pac-10 Championships in Federal
Way, Washington.
“We’ve come away with season bests and lifetime
bests (in our previous meets), and that’s what
matters,” junior Taylor Spivey said. “It doesn’t
matter how well we did in the dual meets if we end up swimming slow
in the NCAAs.”
The No. 12 Bruins (5-4, 2-4 Pac-10) have dropped their last
three meets against Stanford, Cal and USC, but are focused on their
own goals, not their opponent’s scores.
“We really can’t control what other people
do,” head coach Cyndi Gallagher said. “We had three
great meets before. We were cheering so loud (at USC), people
thought we had won.
“We didn’t win the meet, but we have a strong spirit
that keeps the team going,” she continued. “If we win
the Pac-10s, the team would really deserve it.”
The Bruins won the 2001 conference championship, but took fifth
place overall the next year. This year’s conference meet
will allow them the opportunity to demonstrate how much
they’ve improved.
“There will be a lot of good teams out there,”
Spivey said. “But we’re rested for this meet, and
everyone’s coming together.”
A large contingent of Bruin swimmers, including juniors Sarah
Platzer and Malin Svahnstrom, who both excelled in the freestyle
races in the Pac-10s last year, will compete this season.
The diving team will also be in action this weekend, and will be
looking to help secure a championship.
“The divers will be there with us the whole time,”
Gallagher said. “It’s nice to have them competing with
us, eating with us, everything.”
The Pac-10s boast four of the top 10 teams in the nation,
including No. 4 USC and No. 5 Arizona. While the competition will
be intense, the Bruins remain focused.
“We just want to take the races one at a time,”
junior Kristen Lewis said. “Where we are at the end will be
where we are at the end, and we don’t want to get too ahead
of ourselves and our process.”