Seniors score season-bests, continue winning streak in swim and dive competition
Senior Emma Schanz took home wins in the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke in her final meet at Spieker Aquatics Center against Oregon State on Saturday. (Andy Bao/Daily Bruin)
By Claire Britton
Jan. 21, 2019 4:46 p.m.
The Bruins are still undefeated.
UCLA swim (8-0) defeated Oregon State (3-7) 160-93 on Saturday while the diving team hosted the Bruin Diving Invitational all weekend.
Against the Beavers, the Bruin swimmers recorded their best times in all 14 scheduled events of both individual and relay.
The Bruins opened the meet with a win in the 200-yard freestyle relay, swam by junior Kenisha Liu, freshman Emily Lo, sophomore Jennifer Lathrop and freshman Claire Grover.
Liu also notched season-best time in the 200-yard breaststroke.
“I was really surprised with how well I did this meet,” Liu said. “It really just shows how good our training has been lately.”
The eight seniors on the team were also honored Saturday, including Sandra Soe, Emma Schanz and Elena Escalas.
Escalas competed in the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke and Schanz raced in the 100- and 200-yard backstroke.
“The seniors were the standouts of this meet,” said coach Cyndi Gallagher. “The (other) girls really stood up and raced for the seniors.”
Liu added that she was extremely proud of all the hard work that the seniors have put in over the past couple of years.
“We’re all just really watching them figure it out,” Liu said. “It’s amazing to see how far they have come so I’m honored to be part of their last meet.”
Soe walked away with a win in the 1,000-yard freestyle, recording a time of 10:02.00 – an event she has previously won at the last three meets. Soe also competed in the 500-yard freestyle, coming in first place and beating the five-minute mark by about five seconds.
In the 1,000-yard freestyle, two other Bruins, Lisa Kaunitz and Sophia Cavalli, placed both second and third with times of 10:22.71 and 10:37.49, respectively. This was Kauitz’s season best and Cavalli’s first time racing in the 1,000-yard freestyle.
Schanz also logged a season-best time in the 200-yard backstroke, taking first place. Schanz said her family was present at the meet, specifically her grandma and brother.
“My parents don’t come out that often for meets,” Schanz said. “They got me into swimming so I really contribute my success to them.”
In the Bruin Diving Invitational, seniors Maria Polyakova and Eloise Belanger finished first and second in the women’s 3-meter diving championship Friday morning. Polyakova set a pool record and Belanger qualified for zones in her season debut.
On Sunday, Belanger claimed first place in the 1-meter championship. Sophomore Alice Yanovsky was the second highest ranking Bruin before seniors Traci Shiver and Madeline Russell.
With teams such as No. 5 California and No. 2 Stanford next on the schedule, Gallagher said the season is far from over.
“We have to attack each race like we did today,” Schanz said. “We need to prepare as much as we can, we can’t overthink too much especially with Stanford and Cal.”
The Bruins will face Stanford on Feb. 1 at the Avery Aquatics Center.
