The Bruins’ trip to Sin City began by blending family and team and ended with an over-1,000-point victory.

No. 24 UCLA swim and dive (1-0) closed 2024 with a win at the UNLV Invitational, defeating seven other teams – including UNLV with its 743 points and Wyoming with its 639. The Bruins recorded 1250.5 points across the preliminary-final-format meet from Monday to Wednesday.

But their first stop in Las Vegas was senior Morgan Hawes’ family home.

The night before the meet began, the Bruins went to Hawes’ house for a team dinner prepared by her parents and grandparents.

“It’s so much fun when we’re able to go to one of our teammates’ houses,” said junior Rosie Murphy. “It’s always really special when we’re able to blend our swim family with our ‘family’ family.”

Across the three days of competition, the Bruins racked up plenty of points.

“I would say 60 to 70% of our squad, at least, was swimming in an A- or B-scoring final at some point. A bunch of them were swimming in scoring relays,” said coach Jordan Cordry. “But even those ones that didn’t score in the D or the C finals, we were getting big early heat wins.”

The Bruins kicked off the meet by winning the 200-yard freestyle relay by more than a second. UCLA went on to sweep the relays, notching victories in all five A finals.

“Top to bottom, it was definitely the best meet that we’ve had all year,” Cordry said. “It was one of the best meets we’ve had in the last couple of years. I’m really proud of it.”

Junior Ashley Kolessar followed up the relay win with UCLA’s first individual win in a 500-yard freestyle race that Cordry called a gutsy battle.

Senior Eva Carlson recorded a personal best in the 200-yard breaststroke, taking the win with a time of 2:10.49. Senior Ana Jih-Schiff, freshman Karolina Piechowicz and Murphy rounded out the top five, placing third, fourth and fifth, respectively – showcasing the Bruins’ depth.

The last time UCLA came to the UNLV Invitational in 2022, Carlson also recorded a personal best in that race with a 2:12.48.

“It’s the timing of the season and how our training block works. We’re pretty heavy on the aerobic work right now, which benefits longer races,” Carlson said. “That timing just ends up hitting well for this meet.”

Divers senior Maya Salvitti and junior Eden Cheng each recorded podium finishes in the 1-meter and 3-meter dives, with the former winning the 1-meter event.

The meet wrapped up with the 400-yard freestyle relay, which the Bruins won with a time of 3:18.28.

Murphy said the relay team effort from sophomore Sarah Bennetts, Jih-Schiff, graduate student Emma Harvey and Hawes impressed her.

“The A relay and the D relay – we were behind on the third leg, and the third and fourth legs of both the relays came back and ended up winning both of their heats. A relay won the whole event,” Murphy said. “I was just so astonished watching them swim, knowing how exhausted they were at the end of the meet but not giving up no matter what and coming through.”

The Bruins will now head into a weeklong break for the holidays before their training picks back up again next Friday ahead of a tri-meet with UC San Diego and Wisconsin.