UCLA swim and dive takes third in tough Toshiba Classic

 Coming off a short week of rest, the women’s swim team posted impressive individual performances on their way to finishing third overall at the Toshiba Classic this past weekend.

Hosted by UC San Diego and held Thursday through Saturday at the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool in Long Beach, the Toshiba Classic featured 26 teams competing in 18 different races, a format very similar to that of the NCAA Championships held in the spring.

The team entered day one of the meet on just four days of rest after two competitions in Arizona last weekend.

The Bruins posted 725 points, finishing third behind two Pac-10 powerhouses, Stanford an Cal, both of whom finished in the top 5 in the country last year. Stanford’s 1809.5 points and Cal’s 1137 points, dominant scores to say the least, dwarfed the other contenders at the meet.

The only other Pac-10 contender present at the competition was Oregon State with 131 points, good enough for a 17th-place finish.

For the third straight meet, junior Brittany Beauchan showed the form that has cemented her as one of the best breaststroke swimmers in the Pac-10.

Beauchan finished second overall in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:02.21) and third overall in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:14.17), and once again posted times below the NCAA “B” qualifying mark in both events.

UCLA also got a solid showing from its relay teams over the three days of competition.

Beauchan, senior Isabell Fischer, freshman Lindsey Marchand, and freshman Kelsey Hall led the 400 medley relay team to a fourth-place finish (3:44.84) and Beauchan, Fischer, Marchand and sophomore Madison Fitzgerald finished fifth overall in the 200 medley relay.

The freestyle relay teams also found success over the three days in Long Beach.

The 200 free relay team swam 1:36.78 to finish 11th, the 400 free relay team swam 3:28.87 to finish seventh and the 800 free relay team swam 7:29.20 to finish fifth.

In addition, the Bruins performed well in both backstroke events.

In the 100 back, seven UCLA swimmers finished within the top 30 in a field of over 120, and in the 200 back, eight UCLA swimmers finished in the top 25. Senior Isabell Fischer and freshman Laurence Delisle posted top-10 finishes in both events.

Swim now gets a two-week break before their next competition.

The team heads to Federal Way, Wash. for the USA Short Course National Championships, Dec. 3-5, and the Long Course Time Final Invitational on Dec 6.

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