Swim and dive fall to Stanford, Cal but spirits stay strong
unior Ting Quah and UCLA did not beat Stanford and California but still had strong showings against the powerhouse programs.
By Sari Zureiqat
Feb. 4, 2013 12:24 a.m.
Both Stanford and Cal may have sunk the UCLA swim and dive team this past weekend, but the Bruins’ confidence and strong performance kept team spirit afloat.
Despite losing to the Cardinal and the Golden Bears, the Bruins did well overall, using the Stanford meet as a warm-up that led to them winning eight out of 16 events against Cal.
Junior Ting Quah won three of those events – the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle and 200 butterfly – while sophomore Noelle Tarazona out-touched Cal’s Olympic bronze medalist Caitlin Leverenz in the 200 butterfly. Coach Cyndi Gallagher attributes the many successes to the team’s focus, despite the fact that many of their opponents were national champions.
“It doesn’t matter really who you’re competing against, you’re just really competing in your own lane. And you could go in there and be really intimidated because they’re national champions or national whatever, (but the girls) weren’t … they took every race as an opportunity to get better,” Gallagher said.
Although UCLA swam well against Cal, Saturday’s meet against the Golden Bears was challenging in more ways than one.
“It was easygoing (and) fun at Stanford … (Cal was) a little more intimidating, there were a lot more people there. … It was a little bit colder, (and) we were all a little bit more tired,” Quah said.
The swimmers did better against Cal individually despite the challenges of the meet, partly because they implemented various technical changes – getting off the blocks and walls quickly, staying relaxed during races – as the weekend continued.
“A lot of kids were better that second day … maybe not necessarily faster, but they prepared for both meets, which is what I wanted them to do, and they made the changes necessary,” Gallagher said.
The dive team struggled on Friday against Stanford, but there was one exception: senior Michelle Vale, who boasted a career-high, NCAA Zone E qualifying score in the 3-meter.
“I have been relatively healthy, and I’ve had a good two weeks of practice, and I felt good,” Vale said.
Swim and dive hopes to carry this health, positivity and focus on technique into the upcoming meet against No. 1 USC in two weeks.
“It’s weird going into my last ever USC dual meet,” Vale said. “But I’m excited and hopefully it’ll just be a continuation of this dual meet.”
Contact Sari Zureiqat at [email protected]
