The Grand Canyon State is notorious for weather that often peaks in the 100s, meaning diving in the water is often associated with relaxation.

But the Bruins did anything but relax.

No. 24 UCLA swim and dive (2-4-1, 1-1-0 Big Ten) sent three divers to the NCAA Zone E Diving Championships in Flagstaff, Arizona, to compete March 9 to March 11 for the opportunity to clinch spots at the NCAA Championships in Atlanta in mid-March. Of the three Bruins who competed, two of them cracked the podium in at least one individual event to clinch a spot at the national championships.

Juniors Molly Brascia and Laura Fisher, alongside senior Eden Cheng, were entered in the three-day meet to represent Westwood.

Across the three diving events’ preliminary rounds, UCLA was represented in the top five in each one, with two podium placements.

The Bruins began the three days on the 1-meter, with Brascia taking the top preliminary spot with a score of 284.05. The Mission Viejo, California, local followed up her performance with a 555.70 score after the final round to secure a third-place finish, up from eighth place at the same meet last season.

The junior has now secured back-to-back NCAA berths in the 1-meter event, placing 47th in 2025 with a score of 233.50. Brascia’s preliminary mark narrowly topped her season-best score of 283.85 from last year’s campaign.

Brascia joined Cheng in the 3-meter dive on the second day of competition, when the upperclassmen clinched the fifth and sixth placements in the preliminaries, respectively. Brascia scored at 298.60, with Cheng within four points behind her teammate at 294.70.

The 3-meter final round secured Brascia her second NCAA berth later this March, after posting a 585.10 in the final session to place sixth overall. Cheng finished ninth with a score of 571.35, falling short of an NCAA spot in the 3-meter.

However, the London local did not go without a berth, after finishing as the runner-up in both the platform dive preliminaries and finals. In both rounds, Cheng fell to Stanford’s Ellie Cole, who paced Cheng by 81 and then 119.70 points.

Cheng will now compete in the 2026 NCAA Championships – doing so in every year of her collegiate career – in just one event, after clinching a tournament berth in both the 3-meter and platform last season. Nonetheless, the latter dive has been the senior’s premier event throughout her collegiate career.

Cheng won last year’s NCAA Zone E Diving Championship in platform with an overall score of 612.10 before going on to make a top-10 finish at the 2025 NCAA Championships en route to her third consecutive NCAA honorable mention.

Fisher joined Cheng in the platform finals after a 228.45 preliminary score – good for 13th. However, after ending with an overall mark of 432.25, the Altadena local finished 17th and left Flagstaff without an NCAA berth.

With two divers qualifying for Georgia, UCLA will fly out 10 individuals across both the swimming and diving squads to the NCAA Championships.

UCLA Athletics did not provide availability with coaches or players.