Perhaps the stormy weather last Friday was a testament to the toughness of the UCLA women’s swim and dive team and an indication of its potential heading to the Pac-10 Championships.
The Bruins (4-5, 2-5 Pac-10) didn’t pull out a victory against USC (6-1, 5-1 Pac-10), falling 140-160, but amid the pouring rain and the stiffening cold, several record performances set the pool at McDonald’s Swim Stadium ablaze.
Senior Madeleine Stanton, swimming her final Pac-10 dual meet of her career, swam with a fire that rubbed off on her teammates.
“This meet always is high in intensity because both teams want it so bad, but we try to try not to pressure ourselves, even though we naturally go in with an attitude to prove something,” Stanton said.
Stanton finished first in both the 200 back (1:54.87) and the 100 back (53.08). Both were lifetime-bests and meet records. Her 100 back time ranks among the top-15 in the nation and broke Katie Arnold’s 2004 school record of 53.22.
A trio of sophomores also had career swims.
Lauren Hall finished first in the 400 IM (4:13.33), which was also a meet record and lifetime-best for her. Though USC Olympian Rebecca Soni would win two other events, Hall dominated in the 400 IM, finishing close to four seconds ahead of Soni, who medaled three times in the Beijing Olympics. Hall’s lifetime-best was also good enough to set a new school record, topping Kim Scarborough’s 2004 mark of 4:14.62.
In the 1650 free, sophomore Danielle Milligan finished with a lifetime-best time of 16:24.50 to take first, while sophomore Sam Vanden Berge came in second in a time of 16:31.76.
Senior Anna Poteete also finished first in the 50 free with a time of 23.10.
Though the Bruins led at times during the meet, the Trojans, led by Soni, swept the 100 breaststroke which hurt from a points perspective.
“We didn’t let up ““ even if (USC) had Olympians in the other lane,” swim coach Cyndi Gallagher said. “We just kept going and going and were not intimidated.”
And the team kept going, even through the pelting rain.
“It felt like someone was throwing rocks at me in the water,” Stanton said.
The Bruins kept fighting, and though USC managed to come out with 10 victories in the first 15 events, the Bruins had one final response in a come-from-behind victory in one of the Trojan’s stronger events ““ the 200 freestyle relay.
“Everyone did a good job contributing, and I’m pleased,” Gallagher said.
In diving, the Bruins were led by senior Marisa Samaniego, who had huge scores of 296.93 on the 1M, while finishing the 3M competition with a score of 306.38. Both scores placed her just slightly out of the top spot, as USC freshman Victoria Ishimatsu eclipsed 300 in both events
“I just try to be consistent, and going up against this type of competition just helps me step it up as well,” Samaniego said.
Freshman Alyssa Robinson finished third on the 3M with another high score of 290.33.
“They battled the way I wanted them to, and though we missed a couple of things here and there, they will be tightened up before the end of the (season),” dive coach Tom Stebbins said.
The upcoming dive practices, which will focus on minute details in cleaner entries and board work, has Stebbins saying that this is exactly where he envisioned the team to be at the beginning of the year.
“We just need to continue to improve to get better and maintain that intensity, energy and focus that we had here today,” Gallagher said.
The team will have two weeks before heading up to Washington Feb. 25 to Feb. 28 for the Pac-10 Championships.
“In the end, we’re doing it for the team,” Stanton said. “There’s no question we are ready to go.”