University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Swim & Dive Returns to Action, Hosts Pair of Meets
January 06, 2019 | Swimming & Diving
LOS ANGELES โ The UCLA swimming and diving program returns to action this week after a five-week layoff, hosting meets on Monday, Jan. 7 and Friday, Jan. 11 at Spieker Aquatics Center.
Monday's contest brings in San Diego and Harvard for a three-team meet. Diving events are scheduled to start at 10:00 a.m., while the swimming events are set to commence at 1:30 p.m.
Friday's meet welcomes back UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara for a 3:00 p.m. contest. The Bruins had a meet with the Tritons and Gauchos scheduled for Nov. 10, but it was postponed due to poor air quality as a result of local wildfires. There will be no diving competition at this meet.
UCLA head swimming & diving coach Cyndi Gallagher enters the week with a chance at a milestone, as she is three wins away from her 200th career victory. She could hit that mark as early as Friday. Currently in her 31st season, she is by far the winningest coach in program history.
The Bruins most recently competed at the Georgia Fall Invitational from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1. UCLA placed fifth at that meet, which featured top competition such as No. 2 Michigan, No. 4 California, and No. 11 Virginia.
Several Bruins earned B cuts in Athens, Ga., including Claire Grover (50 free: 22.44, 100 breast: 1:00.77), Kenisha Liu (100 free: 49.13, 100 breast: 1:01.53), Mara Newman (200 back: 1:55.47), Emma Schanz (200 breast: 2:10.97, 200 IM: 1:58.28), Emily Lo (200 breast: 2:13.97), Delaney Smith (200 IM: 1:59.80, 400 IM: 4:16.85), and Sandra Soe (500 free: 4:45.23, 1650 free: 16:20.87).
On the diving side, Maria Polyakova started her redshirt senior season in style, taking home the Pac-12 Diver of the Month Award for November. The All-American helped the Bruins to wins over Arizona and Arizona State, winning three of the four events she competed in. Most notably, she totaled a score of 355.50 in 1m against ASU on Nov. 3, establishing new pool, school, and meet records and besting her previous school record by over 15 points.
After that weekend, she trained with the Russian National Team, culminating in a third place finish at the 2018 FINA Diving Grand Prix Gold Coast, where she had a score of 266.30 on 3m springboard.
Senior Traci Shiver and sophomore Alice Yanovsky both recorded NCAA Zone Championships-qualifying scores at the Georgia Fall Invitational. Making her season debut in Athens, Yanovsky had a 285.70 score in the 3m prelims to clear the qualifying standard by over five points. Shiver was a standout on tower, finishing second overall with a score of 241.00 that also puncher her ticket to Zones.
The Bruins received votes in the latest CSCAA TYR Top-25. None of this week's opponents are ranked.
Stay tuned to @UCLASwimandDive during the meets for live updates.
Players Mentioned
