A fast start does not always mean a strong finish.
This lesson was exemplified by the UCLA swimming and diving
team, whose early lead over No. 5 Arizona could not hold up
Saturday, as the Wildcats edged the No. 11 Bruins 149-148 in
Westwood.
UCLA got off to an impressive start against the Wildcats. The
Bruin divers captured first, second and fourth in the 1-meter dive
and first, second and fifth in the 3m dive. The showing gave the
Bruins a total of 29 points to the Wildcats’ nine.
“The divers were huge today,” coach Cyndi Gallagher
said. “Amanda Blong was amazing. We wouldn’t have even
been in the ballpark without them.”
UCLA needed only a second place finish in the 200-yard free
relay to capture the win, but that didn’t happen.
The Wildcats dominated the freestyle and upset the Bruins by
taking first and second place in the final relay, giving them
enough points (14) to steal the win.
As disappointing as the freestyle relay was, it was the
Bruins’ starting errors in the 200yd medley relay earlier in
the day that did just as much to cost them a win.
“The medley relay was the difference between winning and
not winning,” Gallagher said. “It was huge. We made
some glaring mistakes, but you can’t be disappointed because
we swam so fast.
“They had great relay starts. We didn’t.”
As frustrating as losing that race was, Gallagher said she was
glad the Bruins made that mistake now and not later in the
season.
Despite the loss on Saturday, a number of Bruins had successful
weekends. Junior Kim Vandenberg won the 100 and 200yd butterfly and
the 100yd freestyle on both days of competition, improving her
times from Friday’s meet to Saturday’s meet.
Like Vandenberg, sophomore Jane Imagane also won her respective
events for the second meet in a row, the 500 and 1000yd
freestyle.
Vandenberg and Imagane were the lone swimming event winners on
Saturday, with Blong winning both the 1m and 3m diving
competitions.
Friday, however, the Bruins leaped into the lead against the No.
18 Sun Devils and finished with a 174-123 win. UCLA won 11 of the
16 events. Sophomore Katie Arnold won both the 100yd backstroke and
50yd freestyle, senior Lindsey Smart won the 200yd backstroke,
sophomore Jeanna Fuccillo captured the 200yd breaststroke and
senior Kim Scarborough took first in the 400 individual medley.
Despite picking up their first loss in Pac-10 competition over
the weekend, the meets have given UCLA two more opportunities to
learn and grow from.
“We preach the process, not the outcome,” Gallagher
said. “They fought well.”