Bruins dominate in win over UCSB
By Daily Bruin Staff
Oct. 30, 2000 9:00 p.m.
 PATIL ARMENIAN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Freshman
Naoko Watanabe swam an impressive 200m backstroke
race Friday afternoon against UCSB, winning by almost four seconds.
UCLA 174 UCSB 79
By Amanda Fletcher
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
In their first swim meet of the season, the UCLA women’s
win over UCSB was a total team effort.
In the Men’s Gym Pool on Friday, UCLA took every
individual and relay title in the Bruins’ 174-79 romp over
the visiting Gauchos. In five of those races, the Bruins took the
top three spots, and in five others they took the top two.
“Not surprisingly it was a fun meet because a lot of them
swam fast,” UCLA head coach Cyndi Gallagher said.
“We’re good, really good, so much better than last
year.”
Though seniors like Beth Goodwin, an All-American who took first
in the 100-meter butterfly at 55.65, provided leadership in the
pool, it was the underclassmen who brought in the points.
“The sophomores were great; those guys were really
good,” Gallagher said.
So good that the sophomores took first place in five different
races, including the 200-meter free relay where sophomores Leanne
Cadag, Ashley Grissom and Erica Shugart teamed up with freshman
Sara Platzer to hit the wall in only 1:36.16.
“The sophomores really stepped up,” Gallagher said.
“As freshmen they were timid, but now as sophomores
they’re more confident. They know the system and they know
how it works and they’re not as nervous.”
And in the pool on Friday that year of experience went a long
way.
“I felt better swimming as a sophomore,” Cadag said.
“Much stronger than last year.”
If the sophomores swam a great meet, the freshmen were
phenomenal. As a class, they had the best performance in terms of
time, highlighted by Platzer’s new meet record in the 100m
free. With her time of 50.82, she surpassed the previous record set
in 1998 by UCLA All-American Keiko Price (’00).
“All of them swam pretty well,” Gallagher said.
“I think all of them were excited about how they
did.”
The best part about the freshmen swimming so well in their first
meet is that, like the sophomores, there’s only room for
improvement.
“I don’t have any expectations for the freshmen
because even if they’re fast this year they’ll be even
faster next year,” Gallagher said.
But, for the Bruins, the race wasn’t only about who had
the fastest times.
“It’s a learning week for us, that’s why we
videotape the meet,” Gallagher said. “We’ve been
working a lot on stroke technique in the past month but it’s
one thing to do it in practice and another to do it in the
meet.”
From the looks of it, the work paid off. Out of 32 swimmers, 21
improved on their previous season bests, which were established in
a intrasquad meet on Sept. 29.
“Today was less about time and more about swimming
races,” Gallagher said.
Platzer dominated the sprints, taking first in both the 100m and
200m free, the 200m free relay and the 200m medley relay. Junior
Jen Noddle won two individual events, the 100m breast and the 200m
individual medley. In the 200m back freshman Naoko Watanabe was
also impressive as she won her race by over four seconds with a
time of 2:04:46.
“You can tell everyone really stepped up in workouts in
the pre-season,” Shugart said. “Just judging by first
meet and our team spirit we’re going to be really good this
season.”
