The UCLA swimming and diving team kicks off competition at the
annual Texas Invite in Austin, Texas at 8 a.m. today. A total of 13
teams will compete in the invite, which will last until
Saturday.
The No. 14 Bruins will face stiff competition as they race
against No. 1 Stanford, No. 6 Florida, No. 9 USC, No. 11 Texas, No.
18 Wisconsin and No. 24 Arizona State. UCLA coach Cyndi Gallagher
is excited about the Bruins’ opportunity to race against such
high-caliber teams.
“Racing at the highest possible level will make us
better,” Gallagher said. “It’s going to be a fast
meet, and that’s the best thing for our team right
now.”
When facing numerous fast and experienced squads like they will
in Texas, the Bruins know they must be careful not to be become
overwhelmed.
“No matter who we’re swimming against, we just need
to step up,” junior Nicolette Teo said. “The biggest
thing is just doing what we have to do.”
As usual, the Bruins will look to their experienced seniors,
such as team captain Jeana Fuccillo, Katie Arnold and Katie Nelson,
to lead the way. The team has been most successful when its leaders
excel.
“We really feed off each other, so when one person does
well, the rest of us will follow ““ like a domino
effect,” Teo said.
Gallagher admits her swimming squad has a lot of room for
improvement. She believes this invite can be a key step in the
team’s growth.
“We’re not as strong as we’ve been, but that
doesn’t mean we won’t get stronger,” Gallagher
said. “It doesn’t matter where you’re at in the
beginning of December, it matters where you’re at toward the
end of February ““ and as long as we keep moving forward,
we’ll be fine.”
Like the swimming team, the diving team also hopes to keep
improving. It is coming off an enormously successful Minnesota
Diving Invite, in which the Bruins earned four top-three
finishes.
“We’ve proven that we can do the dives,”
senior Sara Clark said. “We just need to do the same things
we’ve been doing before.”
For swimmers and divers alike, improvement is key. The Texas
Invite offers both teams a tremendous opportunity to compete
against the nation’s elite teams ““ the same teams the
Bruins will face at the NCAA Championships in March.