Swimming and diving improves over the course of weekend Arizona meets
As one of the four divers at the Arizona meet, junior Annika Lenz finished in second place. (Daily Bruin file photo)
By Brent Troop
Nov. 9, 2015 1:05 a.m.
The Bruins’ weekend road trip to Arizona was a successful one, despite what the box score might suggest.
Friday’s 160-140 loss to No. 20 Arizona was disappointing for the No. 19 UCLA swimming and diving team, but a bounceback 180-116 win over unranked Arizona State left swimming coach Cyndi Gallagher with a positive outlook on the weekend.
“We made a lot of improvements from Friday to Saturday,” said UCLA swimming coach Cyndi Gallagher. “It’s what you want to do as a team.”
The freshmen swimmers once again had a major impact, as Caroline McTaggart, Emma Schanz and Sandra Soe all recorded multiple top-three finishes.
“They don’t feel like freshmen,” Gallagher said. “They’re really coachable, which makes (practice) fun. Their enthusiasm is fresh and it helps motivate everyone to do better.”
In Tucson, Arizona, McTaggart recorded the only first-place finish among the three freshmen, winning the 200-yard freestyle and finishing second in the 100-yard freestyle. Schanz followed this up with second-place finishes in the 200-yard breaststroke and 200-yard individual medley, as well as a third-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke. In the 1000-yard freestyle, Soe finished runner-up to Arizona senior Bonnie Brandon.
The momentum from the Arizona meet carried on to Tempe, as all three were even more successful against Arizona State. McTaggart won the 100-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly, recording an NCAA “B” qualifying time of 54.31 in the process. The qualification means that if McTaggart records an “A” – an automatic qualifying time in an event – she can also swim the “B” event at the NCAA championships.
Schanz went on to place first in the 100-yard backstroke and 200-yard breaststroke, while Soe was once again successful in the distance events, winning both the 500-yard and 1000-yard freestyle.
There were other bright spots as well for the Bruins, as juniors Madison White and Linnea Mack each recorded a first place finish against both the Wildcats and the Sun Devils.
Against Arizona, White, who cut two seconds off her time, placed first in the 200-yard backstroke and Mack won the 100-yard backstroke. Against Arizona State, White won the 200-yard butterfly and Mack finished first in the 50-yard freestyle.
“(White) is swimming with lots of confidence,” Gallagher said. “It’s fun to see her step up and realize her potential.”
On the boards, the four divers dominated their Pac-12 competition.
In the 1-meter dive against Arizona, UCLA finished with four of the top-five spots, with sophomore Maria Polyakova finishing first and junior Annika Lenz finishing second.
On the 3-meter dive, the Bruins took three of the top-five spots, as Polyakova once again finished first and sophomore Ciara Monahan finished third.
“We (were successful), but we have a much clearer view of what we have to work on as a team,” said diving coach Tom Stebbins.
The success the divers had was nearly identical against Arizona State, as UCLA claimed three of the top-five spots in 1-meter dive and four of the top-five spots in the 3-meter dive.
For the first time this season, Polyakova failed to sweep the diving events and finished runner up in the 1-meter dive to Arizona State sophomore Mara Aiacoboae.
Polyakova and Lenz responded to their second and third place finishes in the 1-meter dive by dominating the 3-meter dive, finishing first and second, respectively.
“It’s dangerous to be trapped by results this early on,” Stebbins said. “We’re still far off from where we need to be at the end of the season.”
Compiled by Brent Troop, Bruin Sports contributor.
