The UCLA swim and dive team opened its season against San Diego in paradise.
The women swam under the San Diego sun and against a “really pretty” school that they said felt like a country club. The team turned in a performance that was just as pleasing to coach Cyndi Gallagher’s eyes.
“We’re kind of good at everything. We’re pretty well balanced,” Gallagher said. “I felt like a lot of the (women) relaxed and swam relaxed and had fun, and I think that’s an important way to start off.”
The Bruins bested the Toreros 184.5-101.5 in their first dual meet of the year, as they won 13 of 14 swimming races.
It was good to get back into the grind, according to Gallagher, who said the team hadn’t competed in a meet since August, excluding UCLA’s Blue v. Gold scrimmage.
In turn, a common theme for the season has been that of a blank slate – many swimmers tried new events, while the freshmen worked on acclimating to the college swim season.
Sophomore Katie Kinnear, for example had been a sprinter, but swam the 200-meter butterfly and 200-meter backstroke, placing second and first, respectively.
“I went out, relaxed, without any expectations and just raced,” Kinnear said.
As goes with the beginning of the season, the swimmers had been working on modifying their technique, Gallagher said. An issue they faced, however, was replicating that in their races.
“We need to improve on swimming with great technique in a race environment,” Gallagher said. “Some of them went back to how they used to swim instead of all the changes we’ve been working on.”
Still, for freshman Linnea Mack, the energetic yet relaxed environment of Saturday’s meet contributed to her strong performance. Mack won both the 100-meter backstroke and 50-meter freestyle.
“The atmosphere was really fun and everyone else was swimming well,” Mack said. “I was able to incorporate some of the stuff we’ve been working on in practice.”
And although Gallagher and the athletes said that some swimmers didn’t perform as they had intended to despite doing well overall, many noted that the team was resilient, making changes from one race to the next within the course of the meet.
“Some people didn’t swim exactly how they planned,” Mack said. “But (they) got back up on their feet.”