COURTNEY STEWART Senior Anne Baghramian
prepares for a dive in the Bruins’ meet two weeks ago. The team
meets up with Stanford today. WOMEN’S SWIMMING vs.
Today 1 p.m. Stanford, CA vs. Saturday 12 p.m. Berkeley, CA
By Pauline Vu
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Last season, the women’s swimming and diving team did
something simply monumental: they beat the Stanford Cardinal for
the first time ever.
“I was shocked,” said senior freestyler and
butterflyer Beth Goodwin of their win last year. “We were
still training, so I wasn’t really expecting best times. The
team surprised me.”
Last year’s meet came down to the wire. Going into the
final race, Stanford was ahead 143-139, so the 200 free relay would
decide the meet.
In that, the team of Keiko Price, Erica Shugart, Goodwin and
LeAnne Cadag won the event in 1:45.05.
Not only that, but the Bruins’ second team of Brighid
Dwyer, Beth Boehm, Jie Lee and Erin Zehntner beat the
Cardinal’s first team by a margin of 1:50.18 to 1:50.37.
The lesson they learned was that anything is possible.
“Now I have a lot more faith. We’re capable of
beating anyone,” Goodwin said.
This year, the tables are turned a bit. UCLA comes into
today’s matchup with the higher ranking, as the latest CSCAA
poll put the Bruins at No. 2 (along with two first-place votes) and
the Cardinal at No. 4. Except for their top-ranking a few weeks
ago, this is UCLA’s highest ranking ever.
“My expectations are to beat both Cal and Stanford,”
Goodwin said. “We have the confidence and the experience to
beat them.”
The veterans are teaching the youngsters about the Stanford
tradition. Although the Bruins had never beaten the Cardinal before
last year, they had been scoring close to them for several
years.
“It’s a big rivalry for us. I know all of us have a
lot of energy and excitement going into the meet,” said
freshman freestyler Kristen Lewis.
The Cardinal should be primed for revenge though, and it
won’t be easy putting them down.
Stanford junior Misty Hyman should be the biggest challenge. She
made headlines over the summer when she stunned defending champion
Susie O’Neill of Australia to win the gold in the 200m fly at
the Sydney Olympics.
Goodwin, who has the nation’s third-best time in both the
100m fly (53.43) and 200m fly (1:58.14), will be challenging
Hyman.
“They have some superstars,” Lewis said.
“We’re gonna have to rely on the whole team to
win.”
On Saturday, the Bruins take on No. 6 Cal, against whom UCLA
holds an all-time record of 10-9. The Bears won the teams’
last meeting on Jan. 29 of last year, beating UCLA 152-147, a day
after the Bruins’ triumph over Stanford.
“They’re two really respected teams,” Lewis
said. “We just want to prove who we are and what we’re
ready to do this season.”