UCLA (Women) Host Loyola, UC-Davis, Oregon State, UC-Santa Barbara
The Pac 10 has a relatively light schedule this weekend; aside from UCLA that is. The Lady Bruins will play host to double tri-meets this weekend, welcoming Loyola and UC-Davis on Friday at 1 Pacific Time, and Oregon State and UC-Santa Barbara on Saturday at Noon Pacific Time.
This will be UCLA’s first action of the season, and they are returning a great core, including all contributors from their 19th place NCAA finish last season. Though they swim in what will be an especially brutal Pac-10 this season (which could place as many as 4 teams in the top 6 at NCAA’s), they are definitely a team to watch this year. Especially keep an eye on breaststroke extraordinaire Brittany Beauchan, who is a star in prelims-finals meets. Last season, she was the NCAA Consolation Champion in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke, as well as the short course USA-Swimming Nationals consolation champion in the 100 breaststroke. She has an uncanny ability, when given a second swim, to really ratchet her speed up.
Oregon State made history last year when they sent their first ever swimmer to the NCAA Championships in the 100 and 200 backstroke in then-sophomore Anna Heller. She looked as though she was going to be the foundation of the future in Corvallis, but changed course and transferred to Texas A&M instead.
Oregon State is 0-2 on the season in duals after being handled back-to-back by San Diego State and USC. Their best chance at winning an event is junior Jenni Dole, who was 8th at Pac 10’s last season in the 100 back, and has already gone a 56.75 this season, good for 5th in the Pac-10 so far and top-25 in the nation.
UCSB is a team to watch over the coming seasons. Their conference (the Big West) has dropped swimming, and this will be their first official meet since moving over to swim in the new-to-swimming Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (while their men’s team will soon be joining the Pac 10).They have made all of the right moves to help raise their national profile, including the implementation of a diving program, and bringing in the best recruiting class in school history that includes 5 NISCA All-Americans.
The freshman crop should be ready to make an immediate impact on the team, given their pedigrees from such powerhouse programs as Irvine NovAquatics and West Clovis High School The swimmer to watch on this program is Samantha Taylor, who was a member of the 2009 U.S. Junior National Team, and is a former California State Champion in the 200 IM. They are the favorites to win the inaugural MPSF Swimming Conference Championship.
Their in-conference foe UC-Davis, who won the last ever Big West swimming Championship, returns a squad that might not be explosive at the top, but is certainly deep. Watch for junior Kayleigh Foley, the defending Big West Champion in the 100 free, who went a 49.45 to take the title. Their 400 free relay should be very competitive this season, as they placed 4 in the top 10 at their Conference meet.