For junior freestyle swimmer Ting Quah, today will be more than just another meet. This meet will give her a chance to vindicate herself and prove that she can compete on the same level as the Arizona State swim team. Quah missed the first tournament against ASU her freshman year, as she competed for her home country, Singapore. She had her second opportunity to challenge ASU her sophomore year, but placed third in the 100-meter freestyle and second in the 200-meter freestyle, about half a second behind first place.
“They’re pretty good, so I’m excited,” Quah said. “I really want to beat ASU … so I’m really excited to race them in our pool.”
No. 15 UCLA will host a dual meet against Arizona State and San Diego on Friday, and will also compete against Arizona on Saturday at Spieker Aquatics Center.
“We’ve had a couple of meets to kind of get underway and see how we work together and how everyone comes together,” coach Cyndi Gallagher said. “We’re still training hard and we’re just being a little more deliberate, a little more focused.”
Sophomore butterfly and medley swimmer Noelle Tarazona had a successful tournament last weekend but pointed out that this weekend would be a bigger challenge.
“I’m not going to focus so much on my time as much as how I swim the race,” Tarazona said. “I just hope to have a good second hundred.”
The Bruins believe their times will reflect the changes they have been working on during practice and are excited to go out on Friday and prove it.
The divers are going into this weekend with the mentality that if they keep their consistency, they are sure to perform well.
“I think last weekend was really good. We did really well as a team and this weekend is going to be even better,” said senior diver Michelle Vale.
The team is ready for its first Pac-12 conference dual meet, even if it is expected to be more challenging than what they have faced thus far.
“It’s always a surprise. We want them to be in the moment, have fun and just race. It’s not the end-all meet, it’s just the beginning,” Gallagher said.