Bruins turn in bumpy season

Tuesday, 4/8/97

Bruins turn in bumpy season

Young squad will return next year with high future
expectations

By Arin Aboulian

Daily Bruin Contributor

Bittersweet is the only word that comes to mind when trying to
describe the season of the UCLA swimming and diving team. It got
off to a great start, but it ended in pure dissatisfaction.

The Bruins began the 1996-97 season hoping to return to the top
10 after finishing 11th last season, but instead finished a
disappointing 14th.

Eight Bruin swimmers qualified for the NCAA championships, but
unfortunately there were no divers present on the team and a lot of
potential points were lost at the diving board.

The Bruin swimmers gave everything they had. Junior Lindsay
Etter broke records by finishing third in the 100-yard breaststroke
with a time of 1:00.77 and fourth in the 200 breaststroke
(2:11.59). She broke UCLA and personal records in both events.

Junior Jill Jenkins also had a great championship meet. Jenkins,
returning to competition after resting a back injury, swam the best
time of her career in the 50 freestyle, with a time of 23.15
seconds.

The NCAA meet exemplified the entire season for the UCLA Bruins.
The Bruins entered the meet hoping to finish in the top eight but,
due to very fast competition, dropped down to 14th despite a few
personal bests by the Bruin squad.

The disappointment of the championship meet was evident as a
season that had started with so much promise and hope ended in a
very fast meet where very few points separated the eighth and the
15th seed.

The Bruins began their season with a lot of hopes and
aspirations, and they got off to a great start with six consecutive
victories, including an early victory over Arizona, which ranked
fourth in the nation at the end of the year. The Bruins also won
the Speedo Cup during Winter Break in which many of the swimmers
achieved their personal bests.

But in their last three dual meets, the power and speed of
top-ranked teams like No. 1 USC, No. 2 Stanford and No. 9
California proved to be too much for the young Bruins, who were
also suffering from a key injury to Jenkins at the end of the
season.

The lack of senior leadership was also another factor that was
present toward the end of the season. The UCLA swim team had no
seniors, 11 juniors, 11 sophomores and 13 freshmen. That proved to
be costly, especially for the Bruin relay teams, who were
disqualified on a few occasions during various competitions
throughout the season, including at the NCAA championships.

"We are a very young team," assistant coach Byron Davis said.
"Sometimes the freshmen and the sophomores are overwhelmed by the
pressure of the big meets. But at NCAA championships some leaders
definitely emerged from the ranks."

The youths present on this year’s squad present a bright note
for the future, with every member of the team returning to compete
next year.

With UCLA looking to sign four more freshmen next year, the
Bruins will be in very good shape to improve their times and
standings in the nation. Etter and Jenkins will be looking to end
their illustrious careers at UCLA with a successful season.

Also playing an important role in next year’s hopes is freshman
Keiko Price. In the NCAA Championships, Price finished ahead of her
teammate Jenkins in the 50 freestyle with an 11th-place time of
22:24 seconds.