The No. 12 UCLA swim team entered this weekend with a daunting
task: back-to-back dual meets, with the second against the No. 4
Arizona Wildcats.
The Bruins outswam Arizona State on Friday, but couldn’t
overcome Arizona’s speedy squad.
“Arizona can win NCAAs this year. That’s how
talented they are,” UCLA coach Cyndi Gallagher said.
“They have a lot of superstars.”
Many of Arizona’s swimmers shone brightly against UCLA, as
the Bruins saw their undefeated record tarnished by the 170-127
loss.
Before the loss to the Wildcats, the Bruins (4-1, 2-1 Pac-10)
began their weekend with a 178-116 victory against Arizona State.
The Bruins experienced an early lead in the diving events and never
looked back.
The divers began the meet with a sweep in the 1-meter event.
Sophomore Marisa Samaniego finished first while senior Sara Clark
placed second and senior Amanda Blong took third. Clark recorded a
victory in 3-meter competition, with Samaniego placing third.
“The divers did an outstanding job,” Gallagher said.
“It’s nice to know before the first race goes that
you’re already ahead.”
After gaining the early advantage, the Bruins went on to win 12
of the next 16 races. They also recorded five NCAA
Championship-qualifying marks.
“It’s really nice to see results so early in the
season,” junior Nicolette Teo said. “It feels good to
know that our hard work is paying off.”
Teo, senior Katie Nelson, and sophomore Anna Poteete led the
UCLA pack with two wins each.
“You can always count on Katie Nelson to win,”
Gallagher said. “And Nicolette ““ she doesn’t even
think about it too much, but just goes out there, swims, and
wins.”
On Saturday’s meet against the Wildcats, Nelson and Teo
again led the way, but in the first half of the meet no other
Bruins seemed to follow. Even with victories in the 1000m freestyle
by Nelson and in the 100m breaststroke by Teo, the Bruins fell
behind early in the meet.
“We came out intimidated,” Nelson said.
The Bruins watched the meet quickly slip through their fingers.
They then met as a team during a break and regrouped.
“We knew we had to kick it up a notch,” Nelson said.
“Arizona swimmers are American record holders, but we need to
not focus on that and not be scared to swim our own
races.”
After the break, the Bruins snapped out of their trance and
began to compete the way they had been all season. Although the
UCLA swimmers couldn’t muster any more victories, they
refused to go down without a fight.
“In the first half, we were focused on how good Arizona is
instead of how good we are,” Gallagher said. “In the
second half, we decided that there’s no reason why they
shouldn’t be here to race and compete.”
The Bruins displayed their renewed vigor in the 400m IM. Junior
Chiemi Yamamoto trailed Arizona’s Jenny Forster and Caitlin
Iversen for the first 350 meters but accelerated to take the lead
in the final 50. The three swimmers rotated taking the lead in the
last 25 yards, until Yamamoto finally took third, only .77 seconds
behind a victorious Forester.
“We definitely learned something about ourselves
today,” Teo said. “We have a lot of heart, and we can
step up ““ no matter who we’re swimming
against.”