UCLA
USC
UCLA Sets School Record, Best Times in Narrow Loss at USC
February 10, 2023 | Swimming & Diving
LOS ANGELES โ The UCLA swim and dive team broke the school record in the 400 free relay, set a dozen best times, and competed down to the wire but ultimately dropped a narrow 152-148 decision to crosstown rival USC on Friday at Uytengsu Aquatics Center.
The meet resembled the last meeting at USC between the two schools, during the 2020-21 season, when UCLA eked out a dramatic win in the final relay to claim victory.
The Bruins (6-3, 3-3 Pac-12) pulled off a win in the final relay again on Friday โ going 3:14.41 to break the previous school mark of 3:15.09 set by Katie Grover, Linnea Mack, Madison White, and Sarah Kaunitz in 2017 โ to pull ahead of USC by a handful of points. However, No. 14-ranked USC (6-2, 4-2) notched a 1-2 finish in the final diving event of the day โ which ran past the conclusion of the swimming events โ to go ahead for good and take the four-point result.
UCLA opened the meet with a tight runner-up finish in the 200 medley relay, as the quartet of Sophia Kosturos, Eva Carlson, Gabby Dang, and Claire Grover (1:36.95) notched an NCAA B Cut and finished a quarter second off from the school record. USC's As won the race by less than a half second.
The Bruins then went 2-3-4 in the 1000 free. Freshman Katrina Bellio (9:55.01) was UCLA's top racer in that event, breaking the 10-minute mark for the second time this season.
The next race โ the 200 free โ saw senior Rachel Rhee open her strong all-day performance, overtaking the field in the final 50 yards to take first with a best time of 1:45.31. Sophomore Gizem Guvenc (1:45.66) and senior Brooke Schaffer (1:46.43) also posted best times and scored for the Bruins.
Kosturos (53.29) edged out the field in the 100 back to bring in another win for UCLA, finishing one-hundredth of a second off her season-best time.
Carlson was the Bruins' top finisher in the 100 breast, going a best time of 59.61 to take third. It was the first time any Bruin has broken the minute mark in that event this year, and was just 0.15 seconds off the school record.
The 200 fly saw sophomore Paige MacEachern (1:57.11) make a late surge to finish first. It was by far a best time in that event for MacEachern, as it was the first time she had cracked the two-minute mark. Freshman Ashley Kolessar (1:58.50) led for the majority of the race, ultimately placing third.
The Bruins finished the first half of the meet strong, with the duo of Grover (season-best 22.02) and Rhee (personal-best 22.06) going 1-2 ahead of the field.
After the re-start, the Bruins continued to dominate the sprint free events as Rhee (personal-best 48.50) led a 1-2-3 finish with Schaffer (49.24) and Grover (49.28).
Freshman Rosie Murphy paced the Bruins in the 200 back, going a best time (1:54.90) as UCLA finished 2-3-4.
Carlson once again led the Bruins in the 200 breast, notching another best time (2:12.30) and taking fourth.
In the tightest race of the day, Dang (52.02) beat out USC's Anicka Delgado (52.03) by just one-hundredth of a second in the 100 fly. Kosturos (52.65) had a best time in that race to finish third.
In the 200 IM, the freshman duo of Kolessar (1:59.45) and Murphy (2:00.39) set or matched best times to place 2-3. Senior Katrina Sommer also scored for UCLA with a time of 2:00.54, just 0.02 seconds off her best time.
The final race of the day saw the top relay squads for UCLA and USC yo-yo for the lead in the 400 free relay. There was little separation throughout, but Grover ended up splitting 47.83 in the anchor leg to get a solid lead over USC's Justina Kozan. Grover ended up as the only swimmer to break 48 seconds.
Grover was joined in the record-setting relay by Rhee (48.71), Schaffer (49.38), and junior Maddie Wright (48.71).
On the diving side, Zoe Jespersgaard (316.40) placed runner-up in 3-meter with her third-best score of the year in that event while Hannah Butler (280.10) took third in 1-meter.
Next up for the Bruins is championship season, starting with the 2023 Pac-12 Championships in Federal Way, Wash. From Feb. 22-25.
Players Mentioned
