To be the best, you have the beat the best.
The UCLA swimming and diving teams will have an opportunity to do just that this weekend. The No. 19 Bruins travel north to take on the No. 2 Stanford Cardinal and No. 6 California Golden Bears this Friday and Saturday, respectively.
Stanford, led by freshman Katie Ledecky and junior Simone Manuel, is still undefeated this season. Ledecky and Manuel are both coming off historic performances from the Rio Olympics.
Ledecky set world records in the 400-meter, 800-meter and 1,500-meter freestyle en route to four gold medals while her teammate Manuel became the first black woman to win an individual swimming Olympic gold in the 100-meter freestyle.
California comes into Saturday’s meet sporting a 5-1 record after wins over Oregon State, Washington State, Arizona, Arizona State and San Jose State.
Its sole defeat came against No. 1 Texas, 152-148.
Despite the challenges of facing top competition on back-to-back days and in crisp temperatures, swimming coach Cyndi Gallagher isn’t fazed.
“We’re used to this,” Gallagher said. “When we go to Pac-12s, we have seven sessions in a row. This is only two.”
While Gallagher displayed confidence in her team’s preparation, senior Brigitte Winkler displayed excitement about the upcoming dual meet.
“It’s really exciting actually, dual meets go really quickly,” Winkler said. “What’s so exciting about them is they are such great competition. It’ll be short meets, but a lot of energy and a lot of fast swimming.”
Though temperatures are forecasted to be in the mid-50s at meet time for both events, neither coach nor player seemed concerned about competing in the brisk weather.
“It’s no one’s favorite, but we’re in the water most of the time,” Winkler said. “The pool’s the same temperature here and there. Obviously, no one likes the cold, but they’re in the cold too, so it’s not as though it’s a disadvantage to us; we’re both in the same weather.”
Gallagher preached the same thing at practice – it’s about “doing your task” during challenges like these.