UCLA swim and dive uses offseason to prepare for 2022-2023 campaign
Senior swimmer Katrina Sommer prepare to race. Sommer is entering her third and final year at UCLA and looks to inspire the underclassmen. (Daily Bruin file photo)
By Amelie Ionescu
Oct. 7, 2022 12:39 p.m.
Seven months after the end of their last season, the Bruins are back.
Preseason training took UCLA swim and dive to Hawaii, where the team focused on preparing for the upcoming season, including setting goals, team building and foundational practice.
“I am really excited about the growth of our team,” said coach Jordan Wolfrum. “We’ve got a big team, we’ve got a young team, and I’m really excited to see what this young team can build on after a great season last year.”
Despite the official season beginning in September, a majority of players did offseason training of their own, with some also competing in international competitions throughout the summer.
Junior swimmer Maddie Wright said she focused on weight training to help with her sprints and will continue to work on improving her mindset in competition over the season.
“Swimming is a very mental sport,” Wright said. “You train all year round to do three or four races, and if you’re not in the right headspace when you have to do that, all that training could almost be for nothing. So I’m just really trying to get my mental game strong for this year.”
The blue and gold’s season starts on the road with the Fresno State Invitational, where UCLA will compete against fellow West Coast schools California, San Diego State, San Jose State and Colorado State alongside the hosts Fresno State on Friday and Saturday.
According to Wolfrum, the Fresno State Invitational provides a unique challenge as a meet that’s three separate sessions squeezed into a day and a half.
“It’s a lot of competing, it’s a lot of racing, and to prepare for that we’ve been doing a lot of work,” Wolfrum said. “We’ve been introducing a lot of intensity and volume into our training cycle, and so I’m confident that this team is going to be ready to take on that workload this weekend.”
Last year, the Bruins secured a third-place finish at the same meet with 670 total points, accumulating only 9.5 less than runner-up San Diego State and almost 300 points more than fourth-place Fresno State.
The rest of the Bruins’ 2020-2021 season saw three wins to five losses, alongside a first-place finish at the UNLV Invitational, a fourth-place finish in the Pac-12 championships and fifth at the Ohio State Fall Invitational.
Senior swimmer Katrina Sommer said she is enjoying the start to her final Bruin campaign and being able to welcome the incoming freshman to Westwood.
“Being on this team is one of the best opportunities I’ve ever had,” Sommer said. “As a senior, I get to experience all of this through the freshmen eyes every year as they come in, so it’s been a wonderful experience.”
Sommer is entering her third season in Westwood and qualified for the three C finals at the Pac-12 championships, taking the No. 19, No. 21 and No. 24 spots in the 200-yard backstroke, 400-yard individual medley and 200-yard individual medley events, respectively.
As a senior on the team, Sommer said she has to set an example for some of the younger members of the team.
“Inspiring the sophomores and freshmen and teaching them how to be a good UCLA student and how to be a Bruin is the most important role I play right now,” Sommer said.
Like Sommer, the freshman recruiting class has participated in its own offseason preparations.
Three of the nine total competed in the Tokyo Olympics last summer, including freshman diver Eden Cheng from Great Britain and freshmen swimmers Katrina Bellio and Beril Bocekler.
“We have a very special team this year,” Wright said. “A lot of really good both new talent and rising talent from freshmen and just from all of the years combined. … Everyone’s super fired up, and we’re really gonna make an impact this year on a more national scale than we have in the years prior.”
