On a cloudy and overcast Friday afternoon at Campus Pool, the defending 2001 Big West Champion, the UCSB women’s swim team, took on 2001 Pac-10 Champion UCLA and Oregon State in a three-way meet.

The Gauchos struggled against the Bruins, falling 170-92, but defeated the Beavers 136-124 in a thrilling ending. UCLA defeated Oregon State 169-95 to sweep both schools. UCSB freshman Lindsay Dalonzo had an impressive debut for the Gauchos, breaking two school records in her first meet.

Santa Barbara was no match against the Bruins, and UCLA took first place in 10 of the 14 events. The Gauchos had first place finishes by the freshman duo of Emily Murad and Dalonzo. Murad finished in first place in the 1000-meter freestyle with a time of 10:22.46. Dalonzo took first place in the 100-meter and 200-meter backstroke breaking the UCSB records in both events along the way. Dalonzo swam a 56:25:00 in the 100 and a 2:02.29 in the 200. The Gauchos also took first in the 400-meter freestyle relay (3:33.46) consisting of senior co-captain Karin Finger, junior Romina Mosquera, freshman Becky Glusac and junior Julia King.

Despite the loss to UCLA, UCSB head coach Gregg Wilson remained upbeat on its performance against the Pac-10 Champs.

“We had a very good meet,” Wilson said. “Our athletes dug in and realized some outstanding performances. This is one of the best meets we have had against UCLA.”

The match-up between the Gauchos and the Beavers was much closer and came down to the wire; the score was 123-120 in UCSB’s favor with one event left to swim-the 400-meter freestyle relay. In the relay, Oregon State jumped out to an early lead against Santa Barbara. Yet Glusac, the third swimmer for UCSB, closed the OSU lead. King, the anchor for the Gauchos, overtook Oregon State senior Bonnie Renwick to win the race and ultimately the meet 136-124. The Gauchos came out victorious despite the Beavers taking eight first-place finishes to the Gauchos six.

“It was a really exiting meet,” said senior co-captain Shelby Chandler, who took third place in the 100 and 200 back events. “We have been working very hard and this was a great win.”

“[Beating] a Pac-10 school is great for our program,” Mosquera said. “Oregon State and UCLA are tough competition but we stepped-up our performance and swam well.”

Wilson was also extremely proud of his athletes.

“We’re heading in the right direction,” he said. “Our freshmen are contributing right away and I am exited about the upcoming meets.”

UCSB will return to action Nov. 2 and 3 at the Big West Shootout in Irvine where the team will go head to head with all the Big West schools including Washington, a Pac-10 program. The Gauchos are looking forward to seeing how they will stand up against their top competition in the Big West, especially against the University of Pacific.

“We can’t wait to see how we stand up against UOP,” Chandler said. “This should be a good preview of the Big West Championship.”

“It will be a great learning experience for the freshmen,” Mosquera said.