With first-meet jitters out of the way, the No. 19 UCLA women’s swimming team has devoted the past week primarily focusing on the fundamentals in preparation for today’s meet against Oregon State and UC Santa Barbara.
This past week’s practice was a return to the basics and consisted of running, swimming, weights and a lot of repetition.
“Practice is grueling, but at the same time, since all of us are doing it, we all get each other through it,” said freshman individual medley swimmer Paige Treleven. “We have eight freshmen, so having eight people helping each other out is really supportive.”
The team also worked extensively on refining relays, technique and form.
“We want to make swimming as effortless as possible,” coach Cyndi Gallagher said. “All swimmers work hard. We try to work smart. As coaches, we try to make (the swimmers) aware of how to make themselves better.”
Tuesday’s practice focused primarily on the freshmen.
“We’ve thrown a lot of stuff on the freshmen,” Gallagher said.
Although it is still early in the year, the freshmen have contributed immediately. Freshman Yasi Jahanshahi won both the 100 and 200 butterfly races against the San Diego Toreros.
But there were still specific areas Gallagher wanted to address.
“Their technique isn’t quite there yet,” Gallagher said. “Some are hesitant to change (their technique) because they have been so successful at it. However, when they want to go fast, they are actually going slower, because they’re fighting with the water. We don’t want them to do that.”
“She stops me all the time to help me out,” Jahanshahi said.
This year, the freshmen have an opportunity to play a leadership role. For the first time, captains will rotate every meet, which may help team chemistry.
“It affects our performance, because everyone is rooting for each other,” Treleven said. “Everyone has the same goal, and everyone is doing everything we can to reach that goal. That makes me want to be a better swimmer.”
As for today’s meet, Oregon State (1-1, 0-1 Pac-10) boasts several key individual swimmers, including star freshman and freestyle swimmer Jenni Dole who swam in Olympic trials last summer.
UCSB (1-0) has vastly improved from one season ago. Though UCLA defeated the Gauchos early last season, UCSB eventually captured a Big West Championship and finished its 2008 campaign with a strong performance at NCAAs. UCSB boasts the return of the core of last year’s team, led by junior sprinter Anna May and senior breaststroker Katy Freeman.
When asked if today’s meet is a must-win in the wake of a long Pac-10 season, Gallagher said, “We just want to swim fast. If we don’t win, it’s not the end of the world. It’s going to be a good race. It’s going to come down to who wants it more.”
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