UCLA
Bruin Diving Invitational
Polyakova, Belanger Stand Out on Day One of Bruin Diving Invitational
January 18, 2019 | Swimming & Diving
LOS ANGELES โ Seniors Maria Polyakova and Eloise Belanger finished 1-2 in the women's 3-meter diving championship on Friday in the first Day of the Bruin Diving Invitational at Spieker Aquatics Center, with the former setting a pool record and the latter qualifying for zones in her season debut.
Polyakova totaled a score of 697.90 over the prelims and finals, including a new Dirks Pool record 375.75 in the finals. After finishing second in the prelims, she took lead of the pack with her first dive of the finals, an inward 2 ยฝ somersault pike, which landed her 64.50 points. She never relinquished the lead from that point, scoring at least a 57.00 on each of her remaining five dives.
Her highest mark of the day came on the second dive in her list, a reverse 21/2 somersault pike, which garnered a score of 76.50. Friday represented the second time in the 2018-19 season that Polyakova established a Dirks Pool record, as she posted a new standard of 355.50 in 1-meter diving on Nov. 3, 2018.ย
"She struggled a little but during the preliminary because she has a little back issue and it was really cold this morning, but I felt as the day went on she looked more and more like herself," said UCLA head diving coach Tom Stebbins. "Clearly she showed what she's capable of in the final. Not saying that that's her best list, but it's a really good place for her to be going into her national meet in a couple weeks."
Maria Polyakova wins the 3-meter championship on day 1 with a combined score of 697.90, including a pool-record 375.75 in the finals.
— UCLA Swim And Dive (@UCLASwimAndDive) January 18, 2019
Here is here highest-scoring dive of her finals list. Congrats, Maria! #GoBruins pic.twitter.com/VAfrPWh64o
Belanger had a strong start to the competition, tallying a score of 332.00 in the prelims to lead all entrants and secure a spot in the NCAA Zone Championships despite making her first appearance for the Bruins in the 2018-19 season. She logged a near-identical mark of 331.80 in the finals to take second.
"Eloise was very good, all I've tried to do with her over the last couple of weeks is just get her re-assimilated into feeling good," said Stebbins. "She missed some training and then got sick with cold/flu stuff when she first got back, so to me what I really like is how she managed herself throughout the course of the meet, and I'm really pleased with the corrections she made. She's in a perfect place to jump forward from here."
UCLA sophomore Alice Yanovsky also qualified for the finals after finishing 11th in the prelims (the top 18 advance) with a score of 277.75. She maintained that position in the finals, accruing a final score of 555.35 and finishing 11th. She finished the day strong, posting a finals-best score of 57.40 on her last dive.
"Alice I thought was really, really good today," said Stebbins. "Really consistent. We still haven't found a full six-dive list, but there are flashes that that's coming, so hopefully by the end of the year we can get there."
Seniors Traci Shiver (230.80) and Madeline Russell (223.20) finished 26th and 33rd, respectively, in the prelims.
Carolina Sculti (Stanford, 650.50), Madison Witt (USC, 598.30), and Mia Paulsen (Stanford, 596.05) rounded out the top-five of the 3-meter diving championship. The field included 60 divers from 15 schools.
USC's Henry Fusaro was the victor in Friday's men's 1-meter diving championship, coming in at 736.20. Stanford's Conor Casey was second at 705.60 and Cal's Connor Callahan took third at 643.45.
The Bruin Diving Invitational resumes on Saturday with women's platform and men's 3-meter. Prelims are scheduled to begin at 12:00 p.m. The UCLA swim team is scheduled to host Oregon State in a dual meet starting at 10:30 a.m. The Bruins' eight seniors will be honored 15 minutes prior to the beginning of that contest.
Players Mentioned
