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Butterfly swimmers on UCLA women’s team band together to push each other to their limits

Seniors Yasi Jahanshahi (left) and Bianca Casciari (right), along with freshman Noelle Tarazona (center), all qualified for the 200 meter butterfly event at the NCAA Championships. Jahanshahi placed 12th overall in the event at the national championships, securing All-American honors. Tarazona placed 18th, while Casciari was 38th overall.

By Taylor Aquino

March 19, 2012 11:00 a.m.

When a clock no longer provides the necessary motivation to attain championship-level success, the members of the UCLA women’s swim team create more teams. The group was fortunate to have several butterfliers secure spots at the NCAA Championship, three of whom composed a specialized butterfly team.

“It helps to feed off of each other,” said senior butterflier Bianca Casciari. “You end up training harder, having friends to work with.”

Out of the six UCLA athletes who qualified for the meet, held in Auburn, Ala., this year, four competed in butterfly events. Freshman Noelle Tarazona, sophomore Anna Senko and seniors Casciari and Yasi Jahanshahi swam with a flutter of hope for top-tier recognition against the nation’s most timely female swimmers.

Freshman breaststroke swimmer Allison Gargalikis and sophomore freestyler Kathryn Murphy joined their fly teammates on the trek down South.

Certainly, the most elite competitors must feel a level of isolation once qualifying times reveal who is, or is not, being flown to the championship meet every year.

Tarazona, Casciari and Jahanshahi executed NCAA qualifying times in the 200 butterfly event together, as well as in other individual events.

The continued opportunity to practice with the fastest athletes in the nation is one of the perks of having a team with which to fly.

“I think training together is really important for us because it gives you kind of like a race atmosphere,” Tarazona said. “You have to do it at practice to be able to do it at the meet, and to have each other to train with really helps.”

The freshman standout has changed the dynamic of the specialized butterfly team at UCLA, according to senior teammates Jahanshahi and Casciari.

“Me and Bianca have had each other for the past four years,” Jahanshahi said. “But we’re really lucky for our senior year to have someone like Noelle come in.”

The freshman phenom has experience swimming internationally, having traveled to Germany, Canada, Sweden, Australia and Spain to compete against Olympians.

“I was part of a team called the National Youth Team, and I was selected for that team a few years in a row,” Tarazona said. “It’s kids 18 and under, kind of like an all-star team. We were selected, and then we got to travel and swim in international meets.”

The other two butterfly specialists value her level of experience, which is considerable for a freshman athlete.

“I just call Noelle the “˜superstar,'” Casciari said.

Casciari and Jahanshahi trained together before Tarazona joined the Bruins this year, and they spent the preceding three years setting goals as a pair.

“Me and Bianca do basically the same events,” Jahanshahi said. “We’ve been together for four years. It was good before, but having Noelle, it’s like 10 times better.”

Tarazona’s place on the Bruins’ roster was undoubtedly a tactical move for Bruins’ coach Cyndi Gallagher. The former UCLA All-American has had success coaching butterfliers in the past.

“She recruits good butterfliers,” Jahanshahi said. “She trains good sets for butterfly.”

Annette Salmeen, Gallagher’s first Olympian, qualified for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games in the 200 butterfly and 800 freestyle relay. While only the latter brought Olympic gold, Salmeen won the 200 butterfly at the NCAAs as a Bruin, and went on to win the event at the Olympic Trials.

As the current season ends, so does the opportunity for the fly trio to train together.

“We all know exactly what we want to do,” Jahanshahi said. “Every stroke, every kick, we’re super-focused. We’re all on the same page.”

Jahanshahi and Casciari will leave Tarazona with the knowledge and experience necessary for team building in the future, which will aid the freshman in the next three years. Tarazona has also garnered multiple accolades, proof of her worth as a leader for incoming recruits.

“She’s kind of legit,” Jahanshahi said of Tarazona with a smile.

As the clock ticks forward into the next season, the inevitable departure of Jahanshahi and Casciari leaves Tarazona in a position to pilot the next fly team.

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Taylor Aquino
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