CATHERINE JUN Senior Beth Goodwin swims
in a match against Washington State. She won both the 50-yd
freestyle and the 100-yd butterfly events. UCLA d.
Washington St. 158-98 UCLA d. UCSD 173-115
By Calley Prezzano
Daily Bruin Contributor
The sun shined brightly for the UCLA women’s swim and dive
team (now 6-0, 3-0 Pac-10) who defeated both Washington State
(158-98) and UCSD (173-115) at the Bruins’ last home meet of
the season on Saturday.
The divers, who competed at the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center, took
first through third in both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard.
Sophomore Jen McNally won the 1-meter (278.1) while sophomore Heidi
Prosser won the 3-meter (309.3). Kasey Reinhard and McNally scored
second and third, respectively, in the 3-meter event.
All three girls joined senior Anne Baghramian, sophomore Regan
Gosnell and freshman Michelle Brown in qualifying for the NCAA Zone
E Championship Meet. From there, they will be able to qualify for
and compete at the NCAA Championships.
Senior Beth Goodwin led the swimmers to victory by winning both
the 50-yard freestyle (23.94) and the 100-yard butterfly (55.24).
Also winning two events was freshman Katie Winkelhaus, capturing
the 100-yard backstroke (58.40) and 200 backstroke (2:03.50).
The swim meet did not begin in the Bruins’ favor. First,
the meet started late because of difficulties with the timing
system. Then the first race of the day was won by Washington State,
when the UCLA medley relay was disqualified.
However, by the second event, the Bruins turned the meet around.
According to Goodwin, the spectator turnout was one of the largest
she’s ever seen, and the cheering helped encourage the
team.
Juniors Emily Melina (10:16.56) and Erin Thomas (10:22.77) took
first and second in the 1,000 freestyle for the Bruins. Also,
junior Lyndee Hovsepian won in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:05.77),
and freshman Sarah Platzer won the 100 freestyle (50.54).
Washington State and UCSD both had good individual swimmers, but
the Bruins had depth to not only win events, but also had other
swimmers scoring points. Much of the Bruins’ strengths were
attributed to their practice of race technique and speed.
“We’re trying to race like we would at the end of
the year, with the same focus and determination,” said
freshman Kristen Lewis, winner of the 200 butterfly (2:05.16).
“Things are finally starting to click.”
Senior co-captain Brighid Dwyer also sees the importance of
keeping end-of-the-year goals in mind while competing at season
meets.
“We’ve done a really good job so far this
year,” she said. “We should keep it going to the
end.”
The team had enough to win the meet, but was still worn down
from the intense training over winter break.
“Not everyone is healthy,” said volunteer assistant
coach Don Witzel. “We’re swimming very, very
tired.”
The Bruins remain competitive even though they have been broken
down by training and are yet to reach their peak. Once the team
gets rested, the results already materializing during workouts will
also show in competition.
“We swim fast while training. Now we can apply that to our
races,” sophomore Sarah Clark said.
The team has been waiting for a critical point in the season to
climax. With big meets against teams like Stanford and Cal, this
peak will come right on schedule.
“In two weeks they’ll really be flying,”Witzel
said.
“We’re doing so well, and we’re tired,”
said freshman Kristen Tinney, who finished 2nd in the 200 freestyle
with a time of 1:55.30. “That only means that when we rest,
we’ll be that much better.”
For Goodwin, Dwyer and fellow seniors Tracy Kinsch and Julia
Voitovitsch, Saturday wrapped up the last of their home meets.
However, these seniors are so focused with finishing the season
strongly that leaving the team is the last thing on their
minds.
“It hasn’t even hit me yet,” Goodwin said.
“We still have four more big meets to prepare for.”
In a nutshell, the team is good and but has the potential to be
great when the time comes to step up and face the larger task at
hand: the NCAA Championships.
“We’re not as fast as we want, but when we work on
speed more, and rest, it will all come together,” Dwyer said.
“We’ll be contenders for the national
championship.”