Both of UCSB’s swimming and diving teams traveled to San Luis Obispo on Saturday to compete in their final regular season dual meet before championship season. The men won a close matchup by a score of 151.5-146.5, while the women fell short 172-128.

“We thought it was over and we lost on both the men and women’s side,” Head Coach Gregg Wilson said. “About 15 to 20 minutes later, after [officials] scored diving, we found out we had won.”

On the men’s side, UCSB was trailing until the A and B relay teams finished first and second in the 200-yard freestyle, the last event of the day. Senior Tim Freeman led the way for the A team with a 50-yard leg of 20.90, while sophomore Wade Allen paced the B squad with a time of 20.59.

The victory was as close as it could be, with the two-second double wins being the difference in the day.

“Had it not been for the outstanding performance of our divers, we would not have walked away with this win,” senior Andrew Latimer said. “We most definitely owe Saturday’s victory to them.”

Gauchos finished first, second and third in the men’s one-meter board to give UCSB a big boost. Sophomore Erich Brodbeck won the event with a score of 262.95 and sophomore Ryan Gerard finished right behind him with a 261.22.

For the women, the day started very well. A victory in the 200-medley relay, a strong five-second win in the 1000 freestyle by sophomore Heren Alanis and a win in the 200 freestyle by junior Sophia Yamauchi had the women’s team feeling good after the first three races.

Yamauchi also won the 200 breaststroke, making her a multiple winner on the day. Alanis joined her as a multi-winner after securing a win in the 400-individual medley.

Junior Andrea Ward won the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:06.72 and freshman Monika Terry won the three-meter dive with 253.80 to keep the women in contention. Other than that, however, the women’s team struggled on the day and was beaten soundly by a prepared Cal Poly team.

“Our main focus now is to come home with the MPSF championship title,” Yamauchi said. “We have worked very hard all season and if we come together as a group, we will be able to feed off of each other’s energy in order to create something spectacular.”

The men’s team finished the season 5-2 in dual meets, while the women’s record stands at 7-4.

The women will compete in the MPSF Swimming and Diving Championships on Feb. 20. After that, the men compete in the Pac-12 Diving Championships on Feb. 28 and Swimming Championships on March 3.

 

A version of this article appeared on page 6 of February 11th, 2013’s print edition of the Nexus.
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