Dive coach Tom Stebbins had said that senior diver Tess Schofield expected too much of herself, which ended up preventing her from obtaining the results he knew she was capable of in Federal Way, Wash.
Last weekend at the NCAA Zone E Championships, after a couple weeks of mental re-focusing, she was ready.
Schofield, along with fellow senior Marisa Samaniego, qualified for the NCAA Championships, and both made loud statements with their performances over the three-day meet.
Samaniego (591.05) made one big error on her second dive on the 3M but came back to roar to a runner-up finish, tallying fewer than three points off defending NCAA champion Emma Friesen’s (University of Hawai’i at Manoa) score.
“I was mad that I missed my second dive,” Samaniego said. “I knew that I had four more good dives, so I stuck to what I knew I could do and didn’t worry about everyone else.”
Meanwhile, it was Schofield, who after struggling at times during the Pac-10 Championships, made a bold statement by winning the tower event on Saturday.
“I really think that I can put it together at NCAAs, and I’m excited to get one more chance to dive one last time,” Schofield said.
After lurking in fourth place after three dives, she finished with a re-established confidence en route to capturing the championship.
“After such a hard year last year, I couldn’t be happier for Marisa and Tess to be going back to the NCAAs,” Stebbins said.
“The season is ending just the way we wanted it to when we started in the fall.”
Yet for swim coach Cyndi Gallagher, who is preparing two swimmers for NCAAs, this is all about keeping things in perspective.
At the outset, the team started off near the bottom of the conference.
Steadily they climbed, and by the end of the Pac-10 season, they were nearing the top.
“We showed that we could compete with anyone at the ‘SC meet ““ some of them were three-fourths up the mountain at that meet ““ but they didn’t go much further,” Gallagher said.
“When you’re that close, it’s frustrating.”
They just weren’t ready ““ yet.
Three swimmers narrowly missed the NCAA cut ““ including junior Isabell Fischer ““ by less than a hundredth of a second. Instead of a potential squad of five swimmers, the Bruins will send just two.
“They all swam best times, so we just didn’t swim fast enough,” Gallagher said.
The team immediately went back to work after the Pac-10 Championships, including sophomore Lauren Hall (400 IM, 200 breast) and senior Madeleine Stanton (200 back), who will represent the UCLA swim team at the NCAA Championships held in College Station, Texas, from Thursday through Saturday.
“You really can’t stop and rest and congratulate yourself for making NCAAs ““ it’s never your goal just to make it (to) NCAAs,” Gallagher said.
For Stanton, just going back home and swimming in front of family for the final time as a Bruin ““ and the first time at the championships ““ will mark a special ending to a bittersweet journey.
“Probably half of the stands will be filled with her family,” Gallagher said, only half-jokingly. “It’s her senior year, and it’s special for a senior to make NCAAs. The light bulb just went on for her this year.”
With family thousands of miles away, the UCLA coaching staff has somewhat filled that familial role in Stanton’s life.
“Through ups and downs, they’ve been instilling faith in me and reiterated the fact that I wasn’t done yet,” Stanton said. “I’m finally glad that I’m able to give back, show them that I believe in myself too.”
After battling through three average seasons, Gallagher feels that Stanton has finally developed a mental toughness which has made her final year all the more special.
“I think this is how I hoped my career would end,” Stanton said, “It’s the end to many different things, so right now I’m just living in the moment.”
And even now, she’s not thinking about it too much.
“I know that if I put in the effort, I will have no regrets and whether or not that proves on the scoreboard, it doesn’t matter, as long as I represent UCLA to the fullest,” Stanton said.