Pac-10 Championships bring excitement to UCLA squad

Wednesday, February 25, 1998

Pac-10 Championships bring excitement to UCLA squad

SWIMMING: Well-prepared for important meet, team hopes to
qualify for NCAAs with best times of season

By Steve Kim

Daily Bruin Staff

UCLA womens swimming head coach Cyndi Gallagher has said time
and again that the team peaks toward the Pac-10s and the NCAAs. One
of these championships has finally arrived. This years Pac-10
Championships will be hosted by UCLA at the Long Beach indoor pool
facility Thursday through Saturday.

Unlike the regular seasons one-day dual meets, these swimming
championships occur over three days. This allows the swimmers to
rest more between races; consequently, many swim their fastest
times of the season.

After an intense regular season of training and weightlifting,
swimmers are taped, rested and shaved for this anticipated
collegiate event, which also explains their peaking at this time of
the year.

The Pac-10s are a prelude to the NCAAs, and many swimmers look
to make the qualifying times this weekend in order to compete at
the national collegiate championships.

This is what weve been looking forward to all season the entire
team for the Pac-10s and the 10 or 12 that make it to the NCAAs,
Gallagher said. So we are looking for some fast times.

The Pac-10 conference boasts the greatest concentration of top
swimming teams in the nation, including the defending national
champion USC Trojans and also the former champion Stanford
Cardinal. The Bruins fort rests in the relay events, and they
recently beat the Trojans in the relays during a dual-team
meet.

Relays are really important, Gallagher said. We have a lot of
Bruin pride and its something were focusing to do great on. Were
looking for a little revenge because we just didnt have that great
of a dual-meet season. So were looking to show everybody how good
we are at Pac-10s.

Major Bruin individual contributors will include Cindy Bertelink
in the distance events, Jill Jenkins in the sprints and
backstrokes, Lindsay Etter and Amber Wines in the breaststrokes,
and Keiko Price in the sprints.

Swimmers such as Jackie Castellano, Beth Goodwin, Becky Thompson
and Lindsey Masterson are expected to contribute to the crucial
relay events, as well as individual races.

But the Pac-10 Championships are more than fast races and
intense competition. The event also acts to showcase the swimmers
achievements and improvements in front of their parents and
supporters.

The Pac-10s are fun because theyre a whole-team event, says
senior breaststroker Etter. I like the energy thats created from
the championships. All the parents are there and they have signs.
Its a huge team event, like a production. Id like to see a great
finish.

Everybody has fun and the parents are going to be there, said
teammate Price. Our relays are going to be good, and thats the meet
where everybody gives their best times. Itll be a good meet.

So the Pac-10s have finally arrived, and Gallagher couldnt be
more excited. The Bruins have some of the most spirited swimmers in
the conference, and they dont plan on quieting down for this big
event. In fact, Gallagher has been seeing a definite increase in
team spirit.

Im excited to watch these girls swim because theyve been getting
fired up, and its really hard to get fired up in the rain, you
know? So theyve been doing a really good job. Theyve shown what
theyre made of against USC the spirit and the heart that they have.
Were looking for things to pay off.AARON TOUT/Daily Bruin

Lindsay Etter is one of top breaststrokers in the Pacific-10
conference.