UCLA’s swimmers and divers may not have another home meet
remaining on their schedule, but when they travel to the Bay Area
this weekend, it will feel just like one.
With many of the No. 11 Bruins from Northern California, they
expect to have at least as much support from the crowd as either of
the home teams when they face No. 8 Stanford today and No. 7
California on Saturday.
“It will definitely be fun no matter what happens,”
UCLA coach Cyndi Gallagher said. “With all the parents and
fans who show up to see us, it’s guaranteed to be a good
time.”
It certainly will boost the mood even further if the Bruins can
outperform this weekend’s tough competition. But the task
will not prove easy, especially when swimming in Palo Alto, where
the Cardinals hold a 20-2 all-time edge against the Bruins.
Much of Stanford’s success can be attributed to their head
coach, Richard Quick, who is also the U.S. Olympic coach.
“He knows what he’s doing,” Gallagher said.
“He is a gracious and humble person, but a huge
competitor.”
After competing against Quick’s team, the Bruins will head
to Berkeley and face the Golden Bears, where UCLA will attempt to
avenge last year’s disheartening one-point loss to Cal.
This year, however, Cal will be without Natalie Coughlin, a gold
medalist at the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece this past summer.
Her strength and speed helped carry the Bears to numerous wins over
UCLA, including last year’s nail-biter.
“She would win meets for them, since she was so much
farther ahead of everyone else in the world,” Gallagher said.
“She is one of those amazing swimmers that you see every
decade. Maybe, if you are lucky.
“Not having her there will be nice, but it will still be a
tough meet.”
The Bruin swimming and diving team is certainly up for the
challenge, as it has been working very hard in and out of the pool,
with strength, speed and endurance training.