A fresh season brings a new schedule and revamped team for the Bruins. No. 23 UCLA swim and dive will kickstart its 2025-26 season Friday. Last year, the Bruins finished 3-5 in dual meets and took seventh at their first go-around at the Big Ten Championships, breaking multiple school records along the way. Daily Bruin senior staff writer Felicia Keller looks ahead at the upcoming swim and dive season and UCLA’s second Big Ten campaign.

The Schedule

Although the Bruins had their Big Ten debut last season, their schedule featured several familiar faces. UCLA faced five former Pac-12 schools. It also played Wisconsin and UC San Diego in a tri-meet – a matchup UCLA also scheduled when it was in the Pac-12.

While swim and dive might be the only UCLA program holding on tight to its former Pac-12 skin, the 2025-26 slate includes a bigger taste of the new conference.

UCLA’s first meet in Big Ten territory will be a tri-meet with No. 10 Michigan and Northwestern on Oct. 25. Iowa will trek to Westwood in January, representing the first time UCLA swim and dive has hosted a Big Ten squad since joining the conference.

When it comes to multi-squad invitationals, UCLA will once again head to the Big Ten Championships at the end of the season and attend the Ohio State Invitational – as it has three times in the last four years.

And the Bruins will get an early look at their crosstown rival, kicking off the season with the USC Invitational.

The Bruins will compete exclusively on the road this fall before returning to Los Angeles for a series of home events in January.

The Coaches

The names at the top of the coaching list remain steady for the Bruins, with head coach Jordan Cordry and head diving coach Tom Stebbins entering their seventh and 28th years, respectively.

But beyond that, the consistency disappears.

Cordry will no longer be supported by former associate head coach Karissa Kruszewski, who departed for the same role at Kentucky. UCLA has only announced one assistant coach to replace the vacancies left by Kruszewski and assistant coach Zac Gebhardt, who is now the pool manager for Pepperdine.

Assistant coach Graham Carpenter joined UCLA from Ohio State, and UCLA will have three coaches for just the second time in Cordry’s time at UCLA.

New Athletes

The Bruins boast just three freshmen – the lowest of Cordry’s tenure with the program.

But freshmen Jada Duncan, Applejean Gwinn and Erica Jaffe each stood out in high school.

Duncan was named to the Big Ten Watch List for the upcoming season and enters as the No. 26th recruit in the country – and fourth-ranked in California – according to Swimcloud. Gwinn follows closely at No. 49 and is second in Nevada. Jaffe is No. 160.

Also joining the team is graduate student transfer Nikoline Biltoft-Jensen, a top swimmer from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.

And on the diving well side of the team, Stebbins has brought in two transfers to solidify his dive team that has been led by senior Eden Cheng – who was also named to the Big Ten Watch List.

Sophomore Virginia Tiberti and redshirt freshman Sheridan Smith will also don the Blue and Gold this season.