University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
Pac-12 Swimming & Diving Championships
UCLA Hits Pacific Northwest for Pac-12s
February 21, 2018 | Swimming & Diving
FEDERAL WAY, Wash. -- Recently slotted at No. 21 in the final CSCAA rankings of the season, the UCLA swimming and diving team travels to Federal Way, Wash. this week to take part in the 2018 Pac-12 Conference Women's Swimming and Diving Championships. Men's diving will also be part of the four-day event, scheduled to start Wednesday.
Saturday's finals will be aired live on Pac-12 Networks at 6:30 p.m. All preliminary and final rounds prior will be streamed live on Pac-12.com and the Pac-12 Now app. Live results will also be available on Pac-12.com.
While the men will get things started Wednesday (12:30 p.m.) with the preliminary round of the 1-Meter diving competition, the women will commence at 6 p.m. with the 200 Medley and 800 Free Relays. The Bruin quartet of Emma Schanz, Sarah Kaunitz, Kenisha Liu and Amy Okada turned in a season-best time of 1:40.22 in the 200 Medley Relay in the Bruins' 150-150 tie with crosstown-rival USC (Feb. 9).
Thursday's morning session will include the preliminary round of the first distance event of the week with the 500 Free. It will also feature the 200 IM and Bruin junior Schanz, who registered a school-record time of 1:56.51 in the event at the Texas Invitational (Nov. 29-Dec. 2). That currently stands as the fourth best time in the conference. The tightly-packed 50 Free field, including Katie Grover and Liu, will splash and dash for the first time Thursday morning.
Before those events crown winners, women's diving will get underway with the 1-Meter event. Bruins Eloise Belanger and Ciara Monahan will look to their season-long success into the postseason. Day 2 will wrap with the 200 Free Relay, who has a new quartet next to it in the UCLA record book. Feb. 9 against USC, Liu, Grover, Sarah Kaunitz and Okada posted a race-winning time of 1:28.91 that ensured the first tie in series history and went for a new school record.
Friday is a seven-event day, kicking off with the 400 IM. Grover will have a busy day with the 100 Fly and 200 Free winners being determined, as well. The senior shined in both events at the Texas Invite, notching times of 52.10 and 1:45.46, respectively. Liu is also among the Top-10 competitors in the 200 Free after turning in a time of 1:45.42 in the USC meet. The 100 Breast and 100 Back preliminary rounds will wrap that morning's events.
Belanger, who turned in a near-school-record score of 343.35 versus USC, will look to continue that success into Friday afternoon's 3-Meter contest. The final of that event will take place as part of the evening session, when the morning's champions are decided. The 400 Medley Relay will be the day's final event.
The final day's events include the 200 Back, which will feature Bruin freshmen Jennifer Lathrop and Lucy Agnew. Liu and Grover figure to challenge in the 100 Free, while Schanz is a top competitor in the 200 Breast. Her time of 2:09.01 against USC is among the best in the conference. The 200 Fly will mark the final preliminary event of the day.
Divers will take on Platform Saturday afternoon, while the 1650 Free will lead off the evening session. Sandra Soe (16:10.42) and Margaux Verger Gourson (16:14.19) posted their top times in the distance race at the Texas Invite and will look to improve on those marks. The 400 Free Relay will be the week's final event. The Bruin "A" quartet at the Texas Invite clocked in at 3:21.07 for the conference's sixth fastest time.
Players Mentioned
