Freshmen change pool into fountain of youth

Monday, September 28, 1998

Freshmen change pool into fountain of youth

PREVIEW: Swimming, dive team stocked with 20 energetic
newcomers

By Steve Kim

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Yesterday’s mature blooms have disappeared – a new crop of fruit
is emerging from the branches of UCLA women’s swimming and diving
teams. This season’s crop of freshmen has arrived in volume, just
beginning its process of ripening.

The majority of the time, freshmen are left out of the
competitive factor. But with freshmen taking 20 out of 35 places on
the swim team and three out of six diving positions, they are going
to be a hard group to ignore this year. And since swimming and
diving teams are combined as one entity under NCAA guidelines, the
two Bruin sports will demand every team member’s hard effort,
freshman or not.

Just how did the swimming team end up with so many new
fishes?

"Last year’s team did a great job of recruiting, and we
recruited a little more than usual because we had eight swimmers
graduating," said head coach Cyndi Gallagher. "It’ll be great
because the freshmen are a big, positive group. There’s power in
numbers."

With a lot of communication and some adjustments, Gallagher said
having such a big group can be used for the team’s advantage.

"It’ll make everyone a little more honest," she said. "For
example, an upperclassman is not going to be sleeping in for
morning practice because there are plenty of freshmen to take her
spot."

Freshman Ana Swanson, who had wanted to attend UCLA since
seventh grade, realized some things were going to be different
during her first practice with the team. She liked it
nevertheless.

"I came from a really small swimming club, so it’s cool to have
a big team and lots of really good swimmers to push you," Swanson
said. "You know that you’ll improve."

Her freshman teammate, Jenn Noddle, agreed.

"Being surrounded by a lot of talent, there’s a lot of people to
learn from," said Noddle. "A lot of us are learning things we’ve
never even heard of before, so it’s pretty exciting."

With so many freshmen present, upperclassmen could have been on
the defensive, but returning members say there’s no tension.

"The team’s transformed because there’s less upperclassmen than
freshmen," said team co-captain Emmanuelle Schick Garcia. "But
everything’s been so easy to deal with because they’re all excited
to be here and willing to try new things."

Swimmers gradually get better as they gain more experience in
the water. Occasionally, a newcomer will turn heads with
exceptional talent and performance. Gallagher hopes several members
from this new group will break through and come out as faster
swimmers.

"You never know what a freshman can do," she said. "There’s a
lot of talent there and it’s exciting to see who’s going to
rise."

The team has its share of experienced swimmers. Junior Keiko
Price will lead in sprint freestyle events, while junior Amber
Wines replaces former senior Lindsay Etter in the breaststroke.
Sophomore Beth Goodwin soared in the 100 fly late in the previous
season and should keep her intensity up this year.

"We have more events covered than we did last year, like the 200
fly, IM’s, breaststrokes," Schick Garcia said. "We had some fast
swimmers graduate, but we’re having some great replacements. So I
think we’re going to win more dual meets than last year."

The theme "new" spills over to the diving team. Besides three
freshmen, the team has a new head coach, Tom Stebbins. Returning
sophomores Anne Baghramian and Delilah More will provide a year’s
worth of experience, but Stebbins realizes the program needs to
restart from square one.

"Everything was all kind of inherited," Stebbins said of his
young team. "We’re in a rebuilding phase right now. We want to have
fun but we also want to succeed."

With a fresh season ahead, and a lot of fresh faces, the Bruins
express optimism for the next few months. One clear goal is for
them to do better in the NCAAs than last year’s 13th place
finish.

"We have high expectations of ourselves," said co-captain Amanda
Hall. "We’ll look toward the freshmen for their energy, and the
returning members for their experience. Together, we’re going to be
a good combination."

Daily Bruin file photo

This year, UCLA’s swimming and diving teams will be composed
mainly of freshmen.

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