Losing four of the six swimmers that qualified for the NCAA Championships and seven seniors total are usually causes for concern.
But as the UCLA women’s swim team prepares for their meet against the University of San Diego Toreros on Saturday, they’re not worried.
They’ve got freshmen who are already filling the voids.
“(The freshmen have) brought a whole new dynamic to the way we function as a team because they are a very competitive bunch that are very fast,” senior breaststroke swimmer Nicolette Teo said. “They want to compete and they want to get faster so that makes the rest of the team work a lot harder. It’s like a different atmosphere. Everyone wants to be here.”
Freshmen Emily Bibb, Lauren Hall and Sam Vanden Berge have already posted five combined wins after the first two meets of the season.
This weekend’s meet will serve primarily as further training for the 10 freshmen on the team and as preparation for notoriously difficult Pac-10 play that begins Nov. 2.
“I think (Saturday’s meet) is really important because it shows the pace of our dual meets,” freestyle swimmer Anna Poteete said. “It’s really good experience for the freshmen to help them get their pacing down and learn how to swim when you’re tired.”
The meet will also be the culmination of a week of intense practice in which coaches increased the yardage swimmers were expected to complete and focused on training the swimmers in quick-breathing techniques.
“We’re working really hard right now,” Teo said. “I know the freshmen are really tired. Intensity of practice has stepped up in the last week. We’re not yet in the middle of our season (so) we’re still training hard and putting in the work right now. A couple of us are under the weather because of the winds and all that stuff.”
It seems, at least at the outset, that the work that has been put in is paying dividends. The team will enter Saturday’s meet at 3-0 with wins over Idaho, Oregon State and UCSB.
Bibb said that she thinks the freshmen have been able to perform so well early on primarily because the upperclassmen on the team have helped make their transition to college athletics so smooth.
Aside from time spent in the pool, the team congregates in Westwood, watches football games together, and shares stories and pieces of advice over dinner.
For Bibb, all the extra efforts at bonding have not only helped her feel more comfortable at UCLA, but have helped the team perform at their best when they hit the water.
“Coming onto the UCLA swim team has been really smooth because all the girls have cared for me and want to help me get better and adjust,” Bibb said. “Everyone is motivating each other. All the girls are pumping each other up. We’re excited before every race. Everybody swims faster in response to the energy the team has.”