UCLA
Trojan Diving Invitational
Swim Hosts UCSB and UCSD, Dive Heads to Trojan Invitational
November 08, 2018 | Swimming & Diving
LOS ANGELES โ This week, the UCLA swimming & diving team will split for the first time this season as the swim team will host Southern California rivals UC Santa Barbara and UC San Diego for a meet at Spieker Aquatics Center on Saturday, Nov. 10, while the diving team will head across town for the Trojan Diving Invitational at USC from Friday, Nov. 9 through Sunday, Nov. 11.
The pair of competitions wraps up a busy three-week period for the Bruins. UCLA opened its season with a 156-144 win at Utah on Oct. 27, then returned home to host Arizona and Arizona State last weekend. UCLA triumphed over both Arizona schools at Spieker, giving the team a 3-0 record through its first three dual meets for the first time since 2015.
The Bruins are 33-1 all-time against the Gauchos, and are facing the Tritons head-to-head for the first time. The men's teams from both UCSB and UCSD will also be competing in separate heats during the meet.
UCLA will send a group of three divers to the Trojan Invitational this weekend. Senior Traci Shiver and freshman Veronica Thompson will be looking to follow up on strong performances at home last weekend, while senior Madeline Russell is set to make her return to competition after a one-week hiatus.
Last week, both Shiver and Thompson set new career standards in the 1m and 3m. Shiver posted a 254.10 in the 1m and a 270.23 in the 3m โ both against ASU -- while Thompson recorded new career-bests of her own at 233.18 in the 1m (against ASU) and 244.95 in the 3m (against Arizona). At Utah, Russell marked her season debuts with a 1m score of 226.50 and a 3m score of 218.18.
The competition begins on Friday with the 1m, with prelims scheduled for 11:00 a.m. and the finals set for 1:00 p.m. Saturday brings the 3m competition, with prelims at 11:00 a.m. Finally, UCLA will compete in platform for the first time season on Sunday, with prelims at 11:00 a.m. and finals at 1:00 p.m.
Back on campus, UCLA will be looking to extend its season-opening win streak to five, which would be the best start for the program since 2012. The showdown with the Gauchos and Trojans is scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m.
Several Bruins are coming off of standout performances in the pool last weekend.
Junior Amy Okada was the victor in both the 100 back and 200 back against Wildcats and Sun Devils, giving her a team-high four individual wins on the weekend. Claire Grover swept the 100 breast events as part of a three-win weekend, while Sandra Soe matched her with a sweep in the 500 free and a first place finish in the 1000 free against ASU. Kenisha Liu added wins in the 100 free and 200 free on Friday to round UCLA's multi-event winners.
Though she will not be competing this week for UCLAย while fulfilling a national team obligation, Maria Polyakova had a weekend to remember last week, setting the school record in the 1m with a score of 355.50 against Arizona State to take first place and clinch the meet win for UCLA. That mark also established new Dirks Pool and ASU meet records. She won all four diving events during last week's meets and earned a nomination for the UCLA Muscle Milk Student-Athlete of the Week award.
After this weekend, the Bruins are out of competition until the Georgia Fall Invitational, which runs from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1.
Players Mentioned
