After a month of “holiday training,” the UCLA swim
and dive team returned to a competitive pool Wednesday against
Washington State.
The No. 10 Bruins improved to 5-1, 3-1 Pac-10 with an 84-74 win
Wednesday afternoon at the pool of the Student Activities Center,
formerly called the Men’s Gymnasium.
Coming into Wednesday’s meet, the Bruin swimmers had not
competed as a team since the Texas A&M Invitational on Nov.
23.
But holiday training kept the team in Westwood until Dec. 19 and
had them return to UCLA on Dec. 28 so they could prepare for the
conclusion of their season.
“We swam a lot, ran and lifted quite a bit,” said
Head Coach Cyndi Gallagher.”We learned a lot about being
flexible with our schedules during the training. Three of the four
pools on campus were down so there were mornings when we woke up
not knowing whether or not we would be able to practice each
day.
“There were not great conditions, but the girls adapted
well and worked hard,” she added.
The Bruin distance swimmers had the most intense holiday
training on the team. Freshmen Jane Imagane and Katie Nelson,
sophomore Liz Keating, junior Melissa Miller and seniors Kristen
Tinney and Lindsay Wolf had their “faces in the pool”
for between five and six hours a day without breaks, according to
Gallagher.
“The distance swimmers did amazing during holiday
training,” the Bruin coach said. “They really stepped
it up, swimming without breaks for extended periods of
time.”
“This is definitely the hardest time of the year,”
Junior Individual Medalist Kim Scarborough said. “We try to
get in as much yardage and as much practice as possible, so it is
important to keep morale up on the team.
“The fact that we were able to get back into the spirit of
racing after such an intense training period is really great for
the team.”
Scarborough was joined in the spotlight Wednesday by freshman
Amy Thurman.
Thurman, a sprinter out of Miramonte High School in Orinda,
Calif., swam the 50-meter freestyle in 25.97, good enough for an
NCAA “B” Standard qualifying time.
“I was really surprised by my time today,” Thurman
said. “I had just come off of my first holiday training, and
I was pretty worn down, so it was a bit of a surprise.”
Next for UCLA is a run of home dual meets to finish off the
regular season.
After facing the University of San Diego on Jan. 17, the Bruins
will host Stanford, California and USC ““ all among the top 10
teams in the country.
Scarborough, who recently qualified for the NCAA championships,
is excited to conclude the dual meet season at home.
“Last year, it was tough to face those schools on the road
so now that we are back in the Men’s Gym pool, we are
definitely ready for them to come,” she said. “I am
excited for it.”