Led by both experienced and fresh faces, the Bruins’ diving team will head to Washington, where their biggest challenge will be the long gaps between dives.

UCLA swim and dive (6-3, 3-3 Pac-12) will take on the Zone E Diving Championships in Washington starting Monday, in the same Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center where the Pac-12 championships were held last week. The four-woman group, led by diving coach Tom Stebbins, will look to improve upon its scores from the conference championships last week. This week’s meet will feature the longest gaps between each individual dive round that the Bruins have seen all season.

Stebbins said the yearlong plan has been to peak for this postseason run, adding that the team stepped up last weekend.

“I’m really proud of what the work is that they’ve done and the efforts they’ve put forth,” Stebbins said. “I’m really looking forward to watching that come together next week.”

Last week, diver Eden Cheng set a new school record in the platform dive final, with a 324.60, to earn a third-place finish.

As a freshman, this will be Cheng’s first experience with Zone E, although she has competed in big international competitions back home in England.

“The collegiate side of diving is definitely a different ballgame that I am very new to,” Cheng said. “(Senior diver) Hannah (Butler) has told me about what to expect, and Tom has as well, which has been very helpful.”

As the only upperclassman on the squad, Butler has valuable experience to pass down to the rest of her teammates. The championships will also mark a final experience that Butler called bittersweet.

Stebbins said the experience that she brings to the team is tremendously beneficial.

“Our younger kids have really kind of looked to her to be that leader and allowed her that room to tell what it might be like or what it’s been like for her and her experience and perspective,” Stebbins said.

Because of the size of the meet – with over 50 divers competing in the springboard preliminary and over 30 in the tower preliminary – the break between dives is considerably longer than in the rest of the season.

Stebbins said that poses extra challenges for the divers, as it is a change from the way they practice.

“You’ve got to be able to shut it down and give yourself some space and time without being overly critical or over analyzing what you maybe didn’t do well or what you need to do better on the next one,” Stebbins said.

For Butler, she plans to bring a coloring book to pass the time.

“That just kind of keeps me staying in the pool and not going somewhere else,” Butler said. “If I’m going on my phone, that kind of takes me a little bit too much out of where I am. But it distracts me enough to the point where I’m not bored or watching everybody else do their dives, which isn’t always that helpful.”

The diving Bruins head to Federal Way, Washington, to compete from Monday to Wednesday.