Breaking school records isn’t new for the Bruins – they’ve done it eight times this season.

But doing it during the season finale – and at the most competitive meet of the year – holds significance.

“NCAAs (The NCAA championships) is a really hard place to swim faster than you’ve swam all season,” said coach Jordan Cordry. “Only about 30% of people improve on their seed time.”

But a school record in the 400-yard medley relay ultimately wasn’t enough for No. 24 UCLA women’s swim and dive (3-5) to break into the nation’s top 25. The Bruins finished in 37th place at the NCAA championships which took place in Federal Way, Washington, from Wednesday to Saturday.

Junior Eden Cheng earned the Bruins’ sole points after she finished 10th overall – and second in the consolation final – in the platform diving competition with a 311.20 mark. Cheng’s 10th place showing in the preliminary round put her just two positions outside of A-final qualification.

“I definitely had my eyes set on the A-final and so missing out was just kind of gut wrenching,” Cheng said.

Cheng’s finish earned her an all-conference honorable mention – an accolade she has received every year since joining the team.

For the first time since 2022, UCLA sent a diver other than Cheng to the NCAA championships with senior Maya Salvitti and sophomore Molly Brascia both placing 47th in the platform and 1-meter competitions, respectively.

On the pool deck, the Bruins competed in four relays in Washington. UCLA consistently sat outside of scoring range in the team events – constituted by a top-16 finish – placing 21st in the 200-yard medley relay, 27th in the 200-yard freestyle relay, 20th in the 400-yard medley relay and 27th in the 400-yard freestyle relay.

“We were present in four relays,” Cordry said. “There’s probably only 15 or 20 teams in the country that were in that many relays. It’s a long week. It’s a hard meet, but the team did great in that perspective.”

Graduate student Emma Harvey and senior Ana Jih-Schiff represented UCLA in all four relays, including on the squad that broke its own school record after touching the wall in 3:31.61 in the 400-yard medley.

Additionally, Jih-Schiff competed in three individual events in her first and last NCAA championship appearance, swimming a total of seven events. She earned a pair of top-50 finishes in the 200-yard breaststroke and the 200-yard individual medley, but placed highest in the 100-yard breaststroke, tying for 40th with a time of 1:00.12.

“It was just amazing to watch teammates either swim their last race or dive their last competition,” Cheng said. “It was just great and so special to be a part of that.”

Freshman Karolina Piechowicz joined Jih-Schiff in both the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke. She’s broken her own school record in the former twice this season. Piechowicz placed 29th and 48th in the respective events, earning the third-fastest time by a freshman in the 100-yard breaststroke.

“We had a lot of underclassmen come with us,” Jih-Schiff said. “Having that experience early on, and getting to see this environment is only going to make them hungrier.”

Junior Rosie Murphy raced in the 200-yard backstroke, the 400-yard individual medley and the 200-yard individual medley, placing 39th, 31st and 49th, respectively.

Murphy also competed at the championships last year when UCLA finished 22nd – its highest placement under Cordry’s coaching tenure.

“We have a number of people who are capable of scoring individually and we have a few relays that were just outside of being able to score, and that’s really where we need to be as UCLA,” Cordry said. “I’m incredibly proud of the individual work that we did here. We’re not far outside of it, but we’ve got some work to do.”