Swim dominates tri-meet
By Chris Chen
Nov. 9, 2008 9:26 p.m.
Last Friday, in a tri-meet that featured Oregon State (1-3, 0-2 Pac-10) and UC Santa Barbara (2-1), the No. 15 UCLA women’s swim team (3-0, 1-0 Pac-10) fed off each others’ performances to defeat the Beavers, 174-71 and the Gauchos, 161-84.
The Bruins have maintained a “no fear” mentality that they say helps them cohesively defend their house.
From the opening 200 medley to the closing 400 freestyle relay, the team maintained a level of energy that both the Beavers and Gauchos couldn’t quite match.
“We were all pumped up from the relays, the 1,000 freestyle, and we were excited that the freshmen stepped up,” sophomore flyer Brittany Beauchan said. “Everything fell into place. I was pumped up just watching them.”
Freshman freestyler Jennifer Lamb began the afternoon by taking the 1,000 free in 10:09.85. The Bruins went on to take nine out of the next 13 events, while breaking nine event records and setting an astounding 27 season-best times.
The most dramatic moment of the meet came when senior Anna Poteete out-touched UCSB All-American Anne Marie May on the last three strokes to win by five-hundredths of a second in the 50 freestyle.
“We won a lot of the close races,” swim coach Cyndi Gallagher said. “It’s huge. It’s always a good sign when you’re not letting anyone pass you.”
Poteete also out-dueled Oregon State’s Saori Haruguchi, another All-American and Olympic qualifier, on the last leg to capture first place in the 200 free.
“Anna showed a lot of heart,” Gallagher said. “She beat a tough NCAA All-American swimmer at the very end.”
These performances set the tone for the rest of the afternoon.
Freshman Yasi Jahanshahi then went on to set meet records in the 100 (55.83) and 200 (2:00.92) butterfly.
Sophomore 400 IM swimmer Lauren Hall and sophomore 500 free swimmer Emily Bibb also took first place in their respective events. Senior Madeleine Stanton took both the 100 (56.36) and the 200 backstroke (2:01.22).
“The times were great; they were better than last week,” Gallagher said. “Their stroke technique was definitely better.”
Gallagher attributed the improved technique to the difficulty of their practices.
“We are going to have hard practices,” Gallagher said. “We’re never going to back off. This will help us to never back down in a meet.”
Even with the holiday, the swim team will take to the pool at 7 in the morning Tuesday to begin yet another day of rigorous practice.
“They have to get better coming into every practice,” Gallagher said. “We have to continue to improve.”
The Bruins’ development will be tested next weekend when No. 16 Arizona State comes to town on Friday and again when fourth-ranked Arizona arrives the next day.
“We are going to have to show the same type of determination to get to the wall first,” Gallagher said.
With the seniors leading and the team working hard together, two victories next week may be possible.
“We train hard day in and day out in the pool, so we can have great arms (and) great legs for those last 25 meters into the wall,” senior IM swimmer Kristen Fischer said. “We’ve improved over the past two weeks, so we are definitely excited to see what we can do next weekend.”
