The Bruin swimmers opened their season with a 171-70 victory over the University of Idaho Vandals last Friday on an afternoon that honored the history of UCLA swimming.
Idaho coach Tom Jager, an Olympic gold-medal winner and UCLA great, and former UCLA men’s coach Ron Ballatore were honored during the meet for their contributions to the Bruin program.
“There is so much history and excellence and greatness in swimming. It was great for (the girls) to see (Ballatore) and hear him, and to know that he helped build the women’s team,” UCLA coach Cyndi Gallagher said. “There aren’t enough words to express how much he helped me and my career. I’m really grateful that he was here.”
In a meet against an overmatched Vandals team, the primary focus was on working out the smaller details of racing and getting used to competition in general.
“It’s so early (in the season) for us to have a meet,” Gallagher said. “I’m a details person. … We just need to work on the little things.”
Butterfly and freestyle swimmer Shannon Hackett, who turned 21 on Friday, won the 200 meters fly with a time of 2:20.55. The senior agreed with Gallagher.
“We swim for ourselves,” Hackett said. “This early in the season, it’s more about the details we’ve been focusing on through all of the preseason. It doesn’t really matter who (was) swimming, we just do what we need to do, and we’re racing each other.”
Finishing 1-2-3 in nearly every event, the Bruins had some key performances from senior and Olympic hopeful Nicolette Teo, who won three events herself, including the 100m and 200m breaststroke, and the 100m freestyle.
“Teo is just on top of her game,” Gallagher said. “She competed a lot this summer in Hong Kong and Japan.”
Putting to rest any fear of first-meet jitters, three freshmen won their events, including Emily Bibb, who won the 200m freestyle in 2:04.55.
As a high school recruit, Bibb was excited to swim with the team that she’d watched from the sidelines last year.
“It was a really cool atmosphere,” Bibb said. “I was used to watching the UCLA girls swim all together when I was being recruited, and now I’m part of it. It was a good experience.”
The pace of the meet was an unusually slow one, because with limited space for a warm-down pool, the swimmers were forced to use the competition lanes after their races.
While the pace and context of the meet was not typical of a normal competition, Gallagher was able to see potential in her swimmers and saw the afternoon as a valuable learning experience.
“We have a lot of learning and growing to do still and we’ve got a large team, which is great, (but) just a little hectic,” Gallagher said. “The meet was different than anything (the freshmen) have ever done.
“It was more for us to see how they competed, so now we can help them.”