The UCSB men’s and women’s swim teams enjoyed an extremely successful weekend competing in the Big West Shootout in Irvine.

The women finished the two-day event at 8-2, with their only losses coming against Pac-10 school Washington, whose men’s and women’s teams both finished the Shootout at 10-0. The men nearly matched the women’s mark, compiling a 7-3 record over two days of competition. With their 8-2 performance, the women improved to 9-3 on the season, while the men’s mark now stands at 7-4.

Santa Barbara’s women managed to sweep every other Big West school at the Shootout, including Cal Poly, Northridge, Irvine and Pacific, despite having no Gaucho swimmer finish first individually. Top performances for the women came from freshman Abby Murad, who finished second in the 1000-meter freestyle with a time of 10:30.24, and from junior Romina Mosquera, who took second in the 200 free, finishing in 1:54.16. Other impressive times were turned in by juniors Julia King, who finished third in the 50 free, and Kristel Haesler, who finished fourth in the 200 individual medley.

The men’s lone first-place finish came from sophomore Eric Koch in the 1000 freestyle, who finished with a time of 9:24.77. Junior Anders Nelson helped the Gaucho cause with a third-place finish in the 200 free. Senior co-captain Kevin Herlihy finished fourth in the 200 free, coming in less than one second after Nelson.

Both teams return to the pool on Nov. 17 when they travel south to take on Northridge.

-Matt Heitner