With two wins and a second-place finish already under its belt, UCLA swimming and diving started its 2015-16 season strong. Led by swimming coach Cyndi Gallagher and diving coach Tom Stebbins, the Bruins are working to translate that success to upcoming meets as they have high aspirations for the rest of the year.
Although the team has completed just a few meets, coach Gallagher said that she is most excited about the leadership and the freshmen so far.
The freshmen have had a big impact on the Bruins’ success so far this season. At the SMU Classic Oct. 16-17, where UCLA finished tied for second with the University of Missouri, freshman Sandra Soe finished third in the 500 free while freshman Caroline McTaggart recorded a personal best time of of 48.67 in the 100 free, finishing just .07 seconds behind first place.
Another freshman swimmer, Emma Schanz, also found success at the meet in Lewisville, Texas, as she finished second in the 200 individual medley and third in both the 200 breast and 400 individual medley.
“That was a great meet for us; we took four freshmen and four upperclassmen,” Gallagher said.
The coach had especially high praise for McTaggart, who she said is “too humble to know how good she is.”
McTaggart said that a big factor behind the swimming team’s victories so far has been the camaraderie among its swimmers, as they’ve helped push each other towards setting personal bests.
“The atmosphere is unparalleled to high school swimming,” McTaggart said. “It’s been amazing to train with these lovely girls both in and out of the water.”
The success of those three freshman swimmers carried into the following tri-meet in Santa Barbara on Oct. 24, as UCLA defeated UCSB 132-113 and Oregon State 175-82. Soe won the 1000 free, McTaggart won both the 100 free and 200 free and Schanz finished first in the 200 individual medley.
UCLA’s triumphs in the pool this season cannot be solely attributed to its freshmen, as junior swimmers Madison White and Linnea Mack have also collected numerous top-three finishes already.
In Texas, White placed second in the 200 back while Mack recorded the Bruins’ only first-place finish, winning the 100 back. At the meet in Santa Barbara, White secured two first-place finishes in the 200 fly and 200 back while Mack won the 100 fly and placed second in the 200 free.
An early-season update would be incomplete without mentioning the success of the diving team so far, especially sophomore Maria Polyakova, who set the UCLA 3-meter dive record last season. She dominated the SMU Classic with wins in both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives.
Polyakova’s goals for this season were simple.
“(I want to) break the UCLA diving record again and finish top three at the NCAA Championships,” she said.
Outside of her personal goals, Polykova said she was excited about the diving team’s increased size, as there are now eight divers compared to the five that were on the team last season.
This weekend, UCLA travels to Tucson and Tempe to face Arizona and Arizona State. With the success of their young team so far, the Bruins will look to defeat the Wildcats for the first time since 2012.