Squad finishes 15th at NCAAs
By Daily Bruin Staff
April 1, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 Courtesy of Cathy Liu/Stanford Daily Lyndee
Hovsepian swims in the 100-yard breaststroke preliminary
on Friday March 16, at the NCAA Championship in East Meadow, N
Y.
By Scott Schultz
Daily Bruin Contributor
LONG ISLAND “”mdash; Several American records were broken at the
NCAA women’s swimming and diving championships held in Long
Island, N.Y,. last month. However, the Bruins, fresh off a
surprising Pac-10 championship victory finished a disappointing
15th.
Georgia’s swimmers captured their third straight national
championship, winning by the narrowest margin ever, 1.5 points over
second place Stanford. The Cardinal actually led entering the final
race, the 400-yard relay. The Bulldogs swiped the victory from
Stanford, finishing the race in second while the Cardinal finished
fourth place.
The star of the weekend’s festivities was Cal freshman
sensation Natalie Coughlin, who established NCAA records in all
three of her events and was part of two Cal relay teams that set
American records.
The Bruins, who relied on their immense depth this season in
order to receive maximum points during the season, were neutralized
by only qualifying nine swimmers and one diver for the
championships.
The result of the smaller squad was minimal scoring in the
relays, which are essential points for a team hoping to finish in
the top five.
The team’s inability to compete in the relays was
compounded by the fact that several teams were able to compete with
outstanding relay squads. Texas, Stanford and Cal all left with
American and NCAA relay records.
“Our finish was disappointing, but we had some really good
wins, and that’s what we focus on,” UCLA Head Coach
Cyndi Gallagher said. “That’s what I focus
on.”
The Bruins’ lack of a veteran star to rely on for
automatic points left them needing top performances from all their
swimmers to even have a chance at the top 10. The results were a
mixed bag.
Senior Beth Goodwin achieved a fourth place finish in the 100-yd
butterfly (53.55) for the Bruins’ best individual performance
of the weekend.
“As disappointed as I was with my time in the 100-yd fly,
that was probably the highlight of my swimming career,”
Goodwin said. “With the people I was racing, it was really
tough just to finish in the top eight.”
Brighid Dwyer, the Bruins’ other senior, set a personal
best in her final race when she won an 11th place finish in the
100-yd backstroke (54.69).
Coach Gallagher was pleased with the performances by her two
seniors, and saw their success as a cumulative process.
“Beth had never scored in the top eight before, and
that’s what she wanted to do,” Gallagher said.
“Brighid had never scored in an individual race before, and
that’s what she wanted to do.
“Beth and Brighid came here with a mission, and they
didn’t let anything distract them from that goal.”
The Bruins scored points in the consolation rounds of five
relays, with the best results coming in the 200-yd and 400-yd
relays, where they scored ninth place finishes.
Freshman Sara Platzer, whom several experts picked to finish
among the top individual scorers at the championships, was limited
to an 11th place finish in the 100-yd freestyle.
Gallagher, while disappointed in her top freshmen’s times,
acknowledged that her swimmers tend to become stronger as they
progress through the four years of the program.
“I don’t have swimmers who swim great freshman
years. They get better as they get older,” Gallagher said.
“They know that if they stay with the program that they are
going to get faster as they get older, and they’re going to
get better.”
Goodwin, who was making her fourth appearance at the
championships, concurred with Gallagher.
“It’s a tough meet,” she said. “We had a
lot of first time qualifiers, so it is hard. There’s a lot of
nerves and weird energies going on.
“But it will be good for next year, ’cause they will
have more experience.”
Dwyer, one of the co-captains on this season’s team, said
that this meet fit into the rollercoaster trend of their
emotionally draining season.
“The whole season has been an up-and-down ride,”
Dwyer said. “This meet kind of followed that trend. I think
this team had some really great swims, some good swims, and some
swims that could have been better.”
