Thursday, March 28

Swim and dive wins all but 1 event, defeating Fresno State in home meet


UCLA swim and dive won 177-115 versus Fresno State and all but one of the 17 events in its first dual meet of the season. (Lillie Yazdi/Daily Bruin)


Swim and dive


Fresno State115
UCLA177

This post was updated Jan. 18 at 10:30 p.m.

In the only home meet this season, the Bruins came out on top.

UCLA swim and dive (1-0) won 177-115 over Fresno State (0-1), winning all but one of the 17 events over the course of the two-day dual meet. Two senior swimmers – Lia Foster and Jennifer Lathrop – along with recent graduate Emily Honng were honored in a pre-meet ceremony.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the team’s schedule was cut in half, also impacting the nature of its events. Sophomore swimmer Sophia Kosturos said the two-day meet style is a result of COVID-19 restrictions and changed the way the swimmers prepared before competition.

“It really emphasizes our need for recovery and taking care of our bodies because the meet is split up into two days as opposed to one,” Kosturos said. “We need our bodies to be fully rested for the next day because it’s two days as opposed to one – it’s like double the amount of stress on your body.”

The Bruins won seven of eight events Friday before going on to beat the Bulldogs in every race Saturday. Eight swimmers earned individual event wins, while two more picked up exhibition victories.

Second-year coach Jordan Wolfrum – who led UCLA to a 7-0 start and its best Pac-12 finish since 2014 in her first year – said the matchup versus Fresno State provided the team an opportunity to get back in the pool and race again, something her squad is grateful for.

“This was a good first step in a really good season where we get to shake off the dust from not having raced a little bit, certainly not get complacent, but got some confidence and feel good about where we’re at,” Wolfrum said. “I think that will be really helpful and more than anything, after 10 months of not getting to race another team, it was just a blast to get to race with another team in the pool.”

Leading the team with two individual event wins, sophomore swimmer Stephanie Su earned her first career event victory in the 500-yard freestyle before later besting the field in the 1,000-yard freestyle. She said she used the meet as an opportunity to focus on her speed throughout the race.

“I try to just pace myself or just focus on pacing throughout the race, especially on the (1,000-yard freestyle) today,” Su said. “I really wanted to work on my pacing and tempo throughout the race. Time goes by a lot faster than expected when swimming long distance.”

Wolfrum said the team’s weekend win will give it momentum going into a rivalry matchup next weekend.

“There’s definitely good momentum coming off of this meet,” Wolfrum said. “We had some good wins. We had some fast swims. We put together some really good relays. And so I think that gives us some confidence heading into (USC) and Arizona.”

Sports senior staff

Boal is currently a Sports senior staff writer on the women's water polo beat. He was an assistant Sports editor on the gymnastics, rowing, swim and dive, men's water polo and women's water polo beats. Boal was previously a contributor on the men's water polo and women's water polo beats.


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