The Bruins will return to action with an uncommon format for their first meet of 2024.
No. 25 UCLA swim and dive (4-1, 2-1 Pac-12) will head down to San Diego to compete in a tri-meet against UC San Diego (1-1, 1-0 MPSF) and No. 13 Wisconsin (4-0, 2-0 Big Ten) Saturday. This will be the Bruins’ first official competition since the Art Adamson Invitational in November and their first tri-meet in three years.
Coach Jordan Wolfrum said because the fall had an intense and busy racing schedule, the break from competition has been beneficial.
“We’ve finally gotten to put down some good work, some good, consistent training,” Wolfrum said. “Being able to accumulate some consistency in training and some focus there is going to give us a chance to start a little fresh.”
UCLA has faced off against UCSD four prior times and won each of those competitions. Most recently, the Bruins beat the Tritons last season by 94 points.
“That being said, UCSD has consistently, at least the last two times we’ve been down there, beat us in at least one relay,” Wolfrum said. “We’re going in with the goal of being able to sweep the relays.”
The upcoming meet differs from the Bruins’ usual non-invitational format because they will face off against two teams rather than just one.
Wolfrum said the major difference between a dual meet and a tri-meet is that with more swimmers comes more depth.
“It beefs up the competition,” Wolfrum said. “It fills in the gaps so that the race for first is usually a little tighter, the race for second is tighter, the race for third is tighter. The relays will be deeper all the way across.”
This will be the first time the Bruins face the third member of the tri-meet – the Badgers – during the regular season.
With Wisconsin hailing from the Big Ten, this meet will act as a preview of next season’s conference competition.
Wolfrum said she looks forward to the opportunity to get exposed to future opponents.
“They are an opponent that is going to be aligned right in the same spot of the conference as we are,” Wolfrum said. “Our hope is that it is a really good match-up. It will be a good opportunity to see what that feels like.”
After this tri-meet, the Bruins will have four more in-conference dual meets before the championship stretch begins.
Wolfrum said the focus for the meet is to demonstrate the extent of the team’s talent.
“We are going to have to continue to be really good on our depth,” Wolfrum said. “And, our top end performance, especially in our sprint relays is going to have to get out there and pick up some wins.”
The Bruins will dive into competition on Jan. 6 at Canyonview Aquatic Center.
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