After wicked winter weather and a canceled competition, the No.
11 UCLA swim and dive team will finally jump back into the
pool.
Noon on Saturday marks the final home swim and dive meet for the
Bruins, who will host UC San Diego and Pepperdine this weekend. It
will be the last opportunity for five swimmers and a diver on the
UCLA team to compete in a familiar environment ““ the Student
Activities Center pool.
Despite the potential for an emotionally charged atmosphere, the
team isn’t feeling too sentimental, especially since there
are plenty of meets remaining this season.
“This is a meet we are using as a jumping-off point into
the end of the season,” diving coach Tom Stebbins said.
“It will be very much about maintaining their movements and
getting ready for the end of the season.”
Following this weekend’s meet, the teams will travel up
north to take on Cal and Stanford, followed by the rivalry match-up
against USC.
While the most important meets of the season are still ahead and
on the road, Stebbins has been able to reflect upon the
contributions of senior team-captain Janine Strack, who will be
diving for the final time at home this weekend.
“She has been an absolute total joy to work with,”
Stebbins said. “She is absolutely one of the greatest kids I
think I’ll ever get a chance to coach.”
Stebbins noted Strack’s blind faith and execution of tasks
as reasons for why the team and coaching staff will miss having her
around.
UCLA’s four other divers will also be competing this
weekend. In past meets, freshmen Brittany Renfrow and Heather Peng
have suffered through back injuries and only competed in the
one-meter dive at selective meets.
“They are just now getting into what we consider our
full-blown program,” Stebbins said.
Fortunately, the divers are healthy and ready to compete,
despite the setbacks imposed on the team by weather issues.
Stebbins is proud of his team for working through the cold
temperatures, heavy winds and rain, but admits they are behind
schedule in terms of training because of the harsh winter
conditions.
“I like to use the few days of rain to toughen up the
kids, but when it happens for 15 days, there’s very little
you can do to challenge them further,” Stebbins said.
“It just becomes a matter of survival.”
The next three months will show if the weather fazed the team in
the long run.
Tomorrow will show how it has affected them in the short
run.