By Pauline Vu
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Before she headed out to swim the 50-meter freestyle race at
this weekend’s Janet Evans Invitational at USC, Beth Goodwin
told UCLA assistant coach Brad Burnham, “I’ll be back
in 26.78 seconds.”
That time was not only a full second under her personal record,
it was also one-hundredth of a second faster than the Olympic
trials qualifying time of 26.79. Burnham just grinned and pushed
the junior a step closer to the platform. Goodwin’s call
wasn’t likely to happen.
“Basically, it’s unheard of,” she said of
dropping a whole second in the 50m freestyle.
And then came the shocker: Beth Goodwin swam the fastest 50m
free in her life with a time of 26.79 seconds, qualifying for this
year’s Olympic trials in that event to go along with the 100m
and 200m butterfly that she already qualified for.
“I’ve been telling my coaches all year, I’m a
50 freestyler, not just a butterflyer,” Goodwin said.
“Finally I showed them.”
When she finished the race, Goodwin didn’t even look to
the electronic screen where the times were flashed ““ she
simply looked at Burnham and UCLA head coach Cyndi Gallagher, who
were jumping up and down with huge smiles on their faces.
“This is one of my greatest accomplishments,”
Goodwin said.
Team Bruin, a club team that includes several current Bruins, as
well as a few incoming Bruins and UCLA graduates, competed at the
invite that lasted from Friday to Sunday. Among the 800 athletes
competing were several world-class swimmers.
Although several of the Bruins have already qualified for
Olympic trials in various events and were using the invitational as
a tune-up for the trials, a few of the other Bruins ““ like
Goodwin ““ used the meet to begin to grab hold of their
Olympic dreams.
“Now I believe I can do anything,” Goodwin said.
Not only did Goodwin make the Olympic trials on Saturday, but
another Bruin qualified for the Olympic Games. Sophomore Marilyn
Chua had already placed in the top two to compete for Malaysia at
the country’s Olympic trials in May, but her time then still
did not meet the qualifying time required by FINA, the
international water sports governing body, to swim in the
Olympics.
At the recent Santa Clara Invitational, Chua still didn’t
make the cut. The Janet Evans Invitational was her last chance to
swim at least a 26.79 and earn a spot to Sydney.
But Chua didn’t let the pressure get to her. She swam the
50m free in 26.49.
“It’s not a big deal. I felt relieved,” she
said. “I’ve been trying to make it since
forever.”
When she finished her race, Chua glanced at the screen and
briefly saw her time, but right after that the screen changed.
“I really hope I saw correctly” was her first
thought, Chua said.
She called her mother to tell her the news, even though her
mother is in Malaysia and the time was about 5 a.m. there.
Her mother’s response was lackluster and sleepy, Chua
said. But four hours later she called Chua back and yelled,
“I’m so excited!”
Several other Bruins turned in good performances, though many of
them already qualified for the Olympic trials in their events. On
Friday, graduate Keiko Price made it to the Championship final of
the 100m free, which included 1996 Olympic gold medalist Amy van
Dyken, and placed eighth there with a time of 57.31 seconds. The
top eight times of all the heats make it to this round.
One incoming Bruin, Leslie Hovsepian, the younger sister of
sophomore Lyndee, also had impressive times.
Although Hovsepian only placed 101st overall in the 200m
breaststroke with a time of 2:51.49, she was pleased with her time
because she quit swimming nearly a year ago. Missing the sport, she
only took it up again in mid-March. The invitational was her first
competition since she quit.
“I’m totally surprised,” Hovsepian said.
“That was near my best time today. I’m barely
rested.”
The meet continued on Sunday with the 100m fly, 100m backstroke,
100m breaststroke, 200m individual medley, and 400m medley relay.
Several Bruins competed on Sunday.