Just like clockwork.
For almost two decades, the UCLA swim program has faced the UC
Santa Barbara Gauchos in an early season dual meet. In each of the
19 previous meetings between the two squads, the result has been as
automatic as a Timex, with the Bruins coming out on top.
In meeting number 20, the trend continued. The 2003-04 Bruins
kicked off their Pac-10 title defense on Friday with a winning
effort in simultaneous dual meets against UCSB and Oregon State.
UCLA (2-0, 1-0 in the Pac-10) defeated UCSB by a score of
152.5-102.5 and OSU 148-108.
“UCSB has some great coaches,” said 16-year head
UCLA swim coach Cyndi Gallagher. “But they just don’t
have the depth that we do. They don’t have the scholarships
that we do. They don’t have the outstanding athletic
department that we do. It really isn’t a fair fight from the
beginning.”
The Bruins are looking even more powerful than last
season’s Pac-10 championship team. Along with six returning
All-Americans, UCLA will be aided by a stellar freshman class.
“We have seven new freshmen from around the nation,”
Gallagher said in a press release. “All have senior national
times and were highly recruited. They will make an immediate
impact.”
Gallagher was right about the immediate impact. In
Friday’s meet, freshman distance swimmers Katie Nelson and
Liz Keating were neck-and-neck for the majority of their races. It
was Nelson, however, who captured first in the 500m and 1000m
freestyle races, swimming the 500m in 4:55.55 and the 1000m in
10:00.90.
“Both Liz and Katie had great swims,” Gallagher
said. “All of the freshmen have done really well so far. They
have been thrown a lot in the last five weeks.”
UCLA’s 2003 All-Americans picked up where they left off
last season. Team captain Kristin Lewis won the 200m butterfly,
senior Sara Platzer won the 50m free, senior Malin Svahnstrom won
the 100m free, sophomore Kim Vandenberg won the 100m fly, and
senior Leslie Hovsepian won the 100m breaststroke. All five Bruins
placed in the finals at the 2003 NCAA Championship meet last
March.
“Those girls started where they left off last year. It is
great to be swimming this fast this early in the year. We are
better at this early point in the season than we were last
year,” Gallagher said.
UCLA does not compete again for almost a month. The next Bruin
swim meet will be the 2003-04 home opener against San Diego on Nov.
8. The dual meet will be held at noon at the Men’s Gym
Pool.
“It is going to be tough to keep sharp and focused during
the time away from competition,” Gallagher said. “We
are going to have inter-squad meets to keep competitive.
“We don’t train to train. We train to
race.”