This past week, the country’s best swimmers converged on Omaha, Nebraska, for the U.S. Swimming Olympic Trials.
UCLA had its share of representatives, as 12 past, present and future Bruins threw their hats in the ring against some of the world’s most successful swimmers, some of whom are planning on adding to an already impressive list of Olympic medals. No Bruin, however, was able to advance beyond the preliminary heats.
Kim Vandenberg was among those in the UCLA contingent. She graduated in 2007 and won bronze for 4×200-meter freestyle from the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She only swam in the women’s 100-meter butterfly in the trials, and finished 124th, short of qualifying for the semifinal stage.
Another standout Bruin was Linnea Mack. Fresh off a highly successful junior season at UCLA, where she helped lead the team to a 17th-place finish at the NCAA championship, Mack entered four events – the women’s 100-meter freestyle, 100-meter butterfly, 100-meter backstroke and 50-meter freestyle.
Mack finished 20th in the preliminary heats for 100-meter backstroke, coming close to a spot in the semifinal. For her other events, however, she finished in the middle of the pack and missed out on the semifinal.
Fellow rising senior Madison White also finished in a respectable 25th place during the women’s 100-meter backstroke.
The most successful Bruin over the course of the trials was Katy Campbell. She elected to pass up the 2015-2016 season to focus on training for Olympic Trials. The focus did not yield a result in the form of a semifinal or final berth, but she did not miss by much.
On June 27, Campbell swam in the women’s 400-meter freestyle qualifying heats and finished 12th, four places and less than a second short of advancing to the final.
The next day, Campbell competed in the women’s 200-meter freestyle and finished 53rd, one place behind incoming Bruin Kenisha Liu and far behind the pace required to move on to the semifinal.
That left Campbell with one more event left on her docket, the 800-meter freestyle. She finished 13th and again narrowly missed a spot in the final.
Other promising results came from the three incoming freshmen, Liu, Isabella Goldsmith and Amy Okada. Liu, in particular, swam well in the 100-meter butterfly, finishing 30th place.
UCLA may not have any representatives in the swimming events at the Rio Olympics, but the results at the trials can be used as a measuring stick for those who are preparing for the 2016-2017 NCAA season.