The UCLA swimming team may have had a two-week break from competition, but that doesn’t mean the Bruins strayed far from the pool.
On Nov. 15, as UCLA men’s water polo looked to finish off its undefeated regular season, the team was crammed onto the packed pool deck with hundreds of other blue and gold fans, cheering on the Bruins to an 11-6 win over the USC Trojans.
The swimmers haven’t spent the whole break on the deck, though, and coach Cyndi Gallagher doesn’t think the two-week hiatus will have a major impact, as her team has gone through its normal pre-meet routines.
“(We’ve had) two weeks of hard training,” Gallagher said. “(The swimmers) got to figure out what worked, what didn’t work and what they needed to work on.”
This weekend, No. 23 UCLA travels inland to East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park for the A3 Invitational, where they will face off against nine other West Coast schools, including No. 12 USC.
A big factor behind the Bruins having a successful meet will be the performance of junior Madison White, who continues to dominate the 200-yard backstroke since the beginning of the season. Her only loss in the event came at the SMU Classic, where she finished runner-up to Florida State freshman Megan Brown.
At last year’s A3 Invitational, White dominated her competition in the 200-yard backstroke, finishing almost two seconds faster than her closest opponent. Coming into this year’s A3 Invitational, White has the fastest recorded time among all entrants in the 200-yard backstroke, setting her up for a possible first place finish.
“Against Arizona, I went significantly faster (in the 200-yard backstroke) than I did last year, so that was exciting,” White said. “I don’t really have any expectations other than to try and progress from what I did at Arizona.”
One of the four seniors on the swimming team, Katie Kinnear is especially excited about competing in the first three-day meet of the season. Kinnear has been a key contributor to the team’s success so far, as she finished first in the 200-yard butterfly against No. 17 Arizona and has the second fastest time in the 100-yard butterfly, behind sophomore teammate Katie Grover.
“The goal (for the team) this meet is to get a feel for the Pac-12 schedule,” Kinnear said. “It has the same event order so it helps you get any kinks out of your routine now instead of later on in the season”
The primary focus for coach Gallagher this weekend was simple.
“For us, it’s just (about) racing and getting better,” she said.