From a decorated locker room to the knowledge that USC’s band will play at the meet, members of the UCLA swim and dive team said they are enjoying the special perks of rivalry week.
The No. 12 Bruins will aim to maintain this positive attitude Saturday, when they face the No. 1 Trojans at USC.
Rather than just event wins, the team will concentrate on doing well individually in its final dual meet before the Pac-12 and NCAA championships.
Individual success is especially important at this point in the season because this meet is the swimmers’ last chance to make qualifying Pac-12 cuts.
“It’s good to get back into that good racing mentality, and I think we’ve done a good week of training and we’re ready to race again,” said senior Rachel Godfred.
Coach Cyndi Gallagher said that part of doing well individually involves not being bogged down by the stresses of competition, but she believes that won’t be a problem for the women.
“This team is a fun team, and having meets is fun whether we win or lose,” Gallagher said.
Although Stanford and Cal were losses, swimmers said they learned from the experience of competing against some of the best athletes in the nation.
“A lot of girls stepped up toward a little higher competition … (our) mentality’s a little tougher now,” said senior Karoline Sanderud.
Gallagher said that she trusts the leadership of the team to impart this tough mentality to the younger swimmers and help them reach their full potential.
For some swimmers, Gallagher hopes that potential reaches as high as making national cuts.
“(For) some people, that’ll be it, that’ll be the end. And some people, they’ll get great races and they’ll continue on to NCAAs. … Still, it’s not the end yet,” Gallagher said.
Gallagher said that the USC meet is about fine-tuning before the Pac-12 and NCAA championships. The swimmers, however, haven’t given up on the possibility of a strong performance against USC.
“Anything’s possible,” Sanderud said. “You never know what’s going to happen when you swim USC.”
Email Zureiqat at szureiqat@media.ucla.edu