Mara Newman has verbally committed to swim for the University of California, Los Angeles beginning in the fall of 2018. A rising senior at Lakeridge High School in Lake Oswego, Oregon, Newman swims for Lake Oswego Swim Club.
“I felt immediately at home at UCLA when I visited. The team was unbelievably welcoming and the school just felt right. The coaching staff is amazing and you really can’t beat sunny Southern California! The campus was beautiful and the academics are top notch. UCLA has a storied tradition of excellence and I can’t wait to be a part of it! Go Bruins!”
Newman contributed to Lakeridge’s third-place team standing at the 2017 Oregon 6A State Championships in February with a second-place finish in the 100 back (54.51) and third in the 100 fly (56.36). She was the butterfly leg on Lakeridge’s fourth-place medley relay, and the leadoff on the runner-up 400 free relay.
Representing Lake Oswego Swim Club at the 2017 U.S. Nationals and World Championship Trials, Newman swam the 50/100/200 backstroke events. In March she was an A finalist in the 200 back (3rd) and 100 back (5th) at SCY Sectionals in Federal Way, and she won the consolation in the 100 fly. This summer she was runner-up in the 200 back and third in the 100 back at LCM Mount Hood Sectionals.
Top times:
- 50 back – 26.26
- 100 back – 53.78
- 200 back – 1:56.65
- 100 fly – 55.34
- 50 free – 23.73
- 100 free – 52.73
- 200 IM – 2:06.59
Newman will enter the UCLA class of 2022 with verbal commits Abriana Howard and Emma Smethurst.
If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best) and a quote to [email protected].
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I presume (G)olden Bear is a former Cal swimmer. Please forgive me if I’m wrong on that. I don’t know Mara Newman and I’m not from California, so I have no skin the game as far as recruiting or school loyalty is concerned. However, she’s a good swimmer who has no doubt worked very hard to get to the point she’s at in her career. This announcement is a moment in her life and her comments indicate that she’s happy about joining the UCLA swimming family. I think (G)olden Bear made a really mean-spirited comment and am disappointed that anyone with any ties to the U of California swimming program would stoop so low as to do what you just… Read more »
UCLA is one of the finest academic institutions in the country, if not the world.
Ms. Newman is no doubt an excellent student, as evidenced by her admission to such a fine university.
Her swimming times speak for themselves.
The UCLA women’s swimming program has under-performed for decades. This is not the result of an inability to recruit fine student athletes, like Ms. Newman.
UCLA is an amazing school with an incredible facility and location. its surprising their swim program is not a top 10 team anymore! Why?
UCLA women’s swimming – where potential goes to die.