The campus pool saw back-to-back action this weekend as the UCSB swim and dive team secured consecutive victories. The women’s team defeated the University of Nevada, Reno 119-82 on Friday before the Gauchos swept UNLV on Saturday in a dual meet, as the women won 148-114 and the men won 158-104.

With the victories, the Santa Barbara women improve its record to 7-1 overall while the men’s swim and dive team now stands at 4-1. The University of Nevada women’s swim team falls to 2-2 while the UNLV men and women’s swim team drop to 3-3 and 0-6, respectively.

“It was a good weekend,” Head Coach Gregg Wilson said. “We have a pretty solid feeling about where we are and what we can do; it is a real team effort.”

Saturday began with the UCSB women taking first in the 200-yard medley relay. Senior Allie Knight, junior Katie Records, senior Andrea Ward and senior Sophia Yamauchi turned in a top time of 1:45.58.

Ward and Yamauchi would continue to shine throughout the meet. Ward flashed her dominance in the pool, notching first place finishes in each of her three individual events. Ward placed first in the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:19.48, the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:03.02 and the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 55.03.

Battling through a lingering injury, Yamauchi finished first in each of her individual events as well. She took the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:04.87 and the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:17.05.

The women faced a scare midway through the meet, down 76-74, but a first-place performance by Knight in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:03.42 and Yamauchi’s 200-yard butterfly win put the Gauchos back in the lead for the remainder of the meet.

“We came together and it was a collective effort,” Yamauchi said. “Our team knows when we have to pick things up.”

The UCSB men’s swim team cruised to a victory against No. 23 UNLV. Performances from sophomore Mickey Mowry and senior co-captain Lucas Norman greatly aided the Gauchos in their effort. Mowry finished first in the 100- and 200-yard butterfly with times of 49.29 and 1:47.18, respectively. Norman led in the 200-yard freestyle with a top time of 1:40.45.

“I am very pleased,” Norman said. “It feels good to get the win especially since we’ve had a 30-year rivalry with this school.”

On Friday, the UCSB women started strong, earning first in the opening two events. The relay team of Knight, Records, Ward and freshman Meghan Bicomong finished with a time of 3:48:30 in the 400-yard medley relay. Junior Heren Alanis followed suit clocking in at 10:31.09 in the 1000-yard freestyle to take first.

Knight, Ward and Bicomong also turned in top performances in their individual events. Bicomong finished first in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.65 followed by Ward taking first in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:03.89. Knight would finish by placing first in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:04.56.

In the Gauchos’ next meet, both the UCSB men’s and women’s swim and dive team will travel north to face UC Davis and Pacific on Jan. 24 and 25, respectively.

 

A version of this article appeared on page 6 of January 13th’s print edition of the Daily Nexus.

Photo by Kenneth Song of the Daily Nexus.

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