UCLA
Utah
Swim & Dive Opens Season With Utah Dual Meet
October 25, 2018 | Swimming & Diving
The UCLA women's swimming & diving team opens its 2018-19 campaign on Saturday, Oct. 27, traveling to Salt Lake City, Utah for a dual meet at the University of Utah's Don Reddish Pool. The meet is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. PT.
The Utes are 0-3 so far this season, but all three losses have come against high-ranked opponents: No. 1 Stanford, No. 2 Cal, and No. 11 USC.
Both the Bruins and Utah received votes in the latest CSCAA TYR Top-25. UCLA is an undefeated 5-0 against Utah all-time in dual meets. This is the first head-to-head matchup between the two schools since 2015.
The Bruins are coming off another solid campaign, setting six new school records in 2017-18. On the diving side, Eloise Belanger captured the program's second straight Pac-12 Diver of the Year Award, won a pair of individual titles at the Pac-12 Championships, finished top-two in all three events at Zones, and scored in both the 3m and platform at NCAAs.
The 2018-19 Bruins feature 17 newcomers โ 16 freshmen and one junior college transfer โ nearly half of the overall squad. Exactly half of the 24-player contingent heading to Utah on Saturday will be newcomers.
Standout returners set to compete this weekend include junior Kenisha Liu (2018 All-American in the 800 free relay), Amy Okada (school record-holder, alongside Liu, in the 200 free relay), Emma Schanz (school record-holder in the 200 IM), and Sandra Soe (2018 All-American in the 800 free relay). They will be joined by senior Sabrina Kwok, junior Lisa Kaunitz, and sophomores Isabella Barattolo, Emily House, and Jennifer Lathrop.
Bruins set to make their Division I debuts on Saturday include Sophia Cavalli, Sophie Clarkowski, Claire Grover, Abriana Howard, Ella Kirschke, Emily Lo, Mara Newman, Emma Smethurst, Delaney Smith, Katie Sulkevich, and Erica Vong.
On the diving side, senior Maria Polyakova is slated to make her return to collegiate competition after redshirting last season. Polyakova is the school record-holder in both the 1m (339.05) and 3m (398.75), was the 2017 Pac-12 Diver of the Year, and is coming off a summer that saw her take home a gold medal in the 1m at the 2018 European Championships in Edinburgh, Scotland. 2018 Zones participant Traci Shiver, senior Madeline Russell (whose 218.55 score on platform last year with third-best by a Bruin), and promising freshman Veronica Thompson are also scheduled to make their season debut.
After Saturday's meet, UCLA returns home next weekend to host its first two home events of the year at Spieker Aquatics Center, first against Arizona on Friday, Nov. 2 and then against Arizona State on Saturday, Nov. 3. ย
Players Mentioned
