UCSB’s swim teams bounced back after a rough stretch by sweeping Saturday’s dual meets at Campus Pool against the University of the Pacific and Loyola Marymount. The return home proved fruitful, as the women’s swim team won a double meet against UOP and LMU while the men triumphed against Pacific.

After long road trips to Las Vegas and Fresno the last two weekends, a home meet on senior weekend proved to be just what UCSB needed to get their conference season back on track.

“It was a really fun weekend to be a part of,” Head Coach Gregg Wilson said. “Everyone was feeling very festive and competed with great energy.”

The women’s team dominated LMU 176-85 while also beating Pacific in a convincing fashion, 161-101. Meanwhile, the men beat UOP 152.5-109.5.

Santa Barbara got off to a slow start, dropping the women’s medley relays to UOP to begin the day. Both the men and women came back, however, and controlled the rest of the day’s events on the way to comforting victories.

“Andrea Ward and Sophia Yamauchi came through as usual,” Wilson said. “Watching them win events that they normally don’t compete in was encouraging.”

Ward, a junior, was the big winner on Saturday, coming away with three victories. She picked up victories in the 200-yard freestyle, 50-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle.

“She loves swimming the 50,” Wilson said. “Giving her a chance to compete in the sprints was great preparation for the championships later in the month.”

Yamauchi, also a junior, performed well outside her usual repertoire, winning the 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard breaststroke.

“Sophie hardly ever swims breaststroke, but when she does, she’s one of the best,” Wilson said. “We’re going to need her come championship time and it was encouraging to watch her win [on Saturday].”

Junior Allie Knight returned from an illness that has limited her for the last two meets to win the 200-yard backstroke and 100-yard backstroke. She was one of multiple Gauchos to win two or more events Saturday.

Freshman Mickey Mowry came through in a big way for the UCSB men, winning the 100-yard backstroke and 100-yard butterfly in place in of injured Gaucho veterans.

“It was great to see Mickey step up in a big way,” Wilson said. “On senior weekend in front of recruits and family, to see a freshman make a big impact was impressive and inspiring.”

Junior Alex Campbell also contributed to UCSB’s success, setting a career record in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:45.39. Sophomore Andrew Barmann joined in on the record-setting day, posting a career best 2:00.06 in the 200-yard individual medley.

“It was a fun way for our seniors to say goodbye to Campus Pool,” Wilson said. “Recruits love seeing the comradery, support and enthusiasm that we have for each other.”

UCSB next travels to Cal Poly on Feb. 9.

A version of this article appeared on page 6 of February 4th, 2013’s print edition of the Nexus.