Four Bruin divers will compete in Oklahoma City this weekend in
the final obstacle on the way to the NCAA swim and dive
championships.
Sophomores Amanda Blong, Sara Clark and Paige Thompson as well
as junior Janine Strack will participate in the NCAA Zone E Diving
Championships. An impressive showing this weekend will mean a berth
in the NCAA Championships, held March 18-20 in College Station,
Tex.
Any UCLA divers that qualify for the national championships will
join an already-crowded squad of Bruin swimmers in Texas. Twelve
UCLA swimmers and five relays have qualified for the nation’s
most competitive college swim meet.
Among the dozen qualified Bruins are four freshmen. Katie Arnold
(50 meter free, 100m back, 200m back), Katie Nelson (400m free,
200m free, 1500m free), Amy Thurman (50m free, 100m fly, 100m free)
and Jane Imagane (400m Individual Medley, 1500m free) comprise the
freshmen presence on the traveling team.
Junior Kim Scarborough (200m IM, 400m IM, 200m back) and senior
Naoko Watanabe (200m IM, 100m back, 200m back) are the only other
Bruins on their first trip to nationals.
Half of the UCLA swimmers making the journey to Texas made a
similar trip to Auburn last season for the 2003 NCAA Championship
meet. Sophomore Kim Vandenberg is the only non-senior in the bunch.
She will compete in the 100m and 200m butterfly.
The five seniors returning to the national meet are Leslie
Hovsepian (100m breast, 200m breast), Kristen Lewis (100m fly, 200m
fly), Jackie Lobdell (200m free, 200m back), Sara Platzer (50m
free, 100m free) and Malin Svahnstrom (200m IM, 200m free, 100m
free).
The Bruins, currently ranked seventh in the country by the
College Swim Coaches Association of America, finished 11th at the
NCAA meet in 2003.