Swim and dive places sixth in Pac-12 championships with first-place diving finishes
Senior diver Maria Polyakova won both the 1-meter and the 3-meter for UCLA at the Pac-12 championships this weekend. Polyakova was also crowned Diver of the Meet. (Andy Bao/Daily Bruin)
By Claire Britton
March 3, 2019 11:57 p.m.
The Bruins have begun the postseason.
No. 25 UCLA swim and dive (8-3, 4-3 Pac-12) traveled to Federal Way, Washington, to compete in the four-daylong Pac-12 championships.
“We learned so much, both good and bad,” said coach Cyndi Gallagher. “But we had to blow through the bad and focus on the good things to keep our spirits up.”
UCLA walked away from the first day of the tournament with top-seven finishes in the 200-yard medley and 800-yard freestyle events.
The Bruins received a seventh-place finish in the 200-yard medley, swam by freshman Claire Grover, juniors Amy Okada and Maisie Jameson and senior Emma Schanz. They finished with a time of 1 minute, 38.24 seconds, which was an improvement of almost one second from their previous season-best.
On day two of the championships, redshirt senior Maria Polyakova became the 1-meter diving champion. Polyakova’s title marks the third of her career, having previously won the 1-meter in 2016 and the 3-meter in 2017.
“I didn’t set any goals for myself going into it,” Polyakova said. “But I’m not just going to give up. ‘I’m going to fight for it’ was my mentality.”
Grover received a spot on the podium in third place for her finish in the 50-yard freestyle to set a freshman school record of 21.98.
“To end up on the podium was really exciting,” Grover said. “I’ve been trying to go 21 for a really long time, so that was a huge goal for me to accomplish.”
With Grover’s help in the 200-yard freestyle relay, UCLA’s A Team received third place with a season-best time of 1:28.88. The relay team was Grover, Okada, Jameson and junior Kenisha Liu.
On day three of the championship, Polyakova continued her reign by being crowned Pac-12 champion for the second day in a row for the 3-meter. Polyakova snagged the title by less than five points over the second-place finisher, Carolina Sculti of Stanford.
“1-meter is a bit easier for me, so I was trying to think of it as a halfway point,” Polyakova said. “I was thinking that I can’t celebrate yet – tomorrow is the day that matters and I’m going to fight for it.”
Grover broke the one-minute mark in the 100-yard breaststroke. In the A Final, she finished fourth with a time of 59.50.
Okada received her best time Friday, taking 13th in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 52.97. Schanz placed eight in the 100-yard backstroke to give the Bruins top-10 finish.
To close the meet, Polyakova was crowned the Diver of the Meet – the third straight year a Bruin has received that distinction at the Pac-12 championships.
Before the meet, Polyakova twisted her ankle and was out of practice for three weeks.
“I just had to focus on what my body remembered before the injury,” Polyakova said. “So I’m really excited with how it turned out.”
Senior Eloise Belanger – the reigning Pac-12 Diver of the Year – finished second in the preliminaries, allowing her to qualify for the finals of the platform championships.
Senior Sandra Soe swam the mile, finishing with a time of 16:12.90 – her second best time of the season.
Freshman Mara Newman received sixth place in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:53.73, making her the highest finisher for UCLA on Saturday.
The Bruins ended the Pac-12 championships in sixth place with a score of 835.
“Having great competition only makes you better,” Gallagher said. “That’s what they signed up for when they came to UCLA and that’s what they saw at the Pac-12s.”
