This year’s UC Santa Barbara swimming team started their season in October taking two straight victories at the Cal State Bakersfield Sprint Classic and the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunner Invite.
Eric Swenson/Daily Nexus
The following week, the male Gauchos took on a tough opponent with the University of Southern California and came up with a 172-85 loss at the meet. The women also took a loss at UC Los Angeles with a score of 167-92.
That meet began a rough stretch for the Gauchos as they ended up losing the following two meets.
At the opening conference meet against rival Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, the male Gauchos’ swim team took a narrow 146-142 loss while the women’s team captured a 174-120 victory.
The Gauchos were away at the following conference meet against UC San Diego where the men took a 152-110 loss and the women took a 153-103 loss.
In the next meet, the male Gauchos took first place in the Dixie State Invite with 1056 total points. In the 200-yard backstroke, freshman Kyle Brill dominated with a first-place finish. Another freshman standout, Taber daCosta, finished second in the 1650-yard freestyle. Senior Kian Brouwer, junior Dominic Falcon and sophomore Corban McIntosh each finished top three in their respective events.
The women’s side had loads of success with a second and third place finish from junior Maelynn Lawrence and senior Dora Seggelke in the 200-yard fly, respectively. Sophomores Reagan Nibarger and Cami Collins each had a top six finish in the 100-yard fly and Collins in the 200-yard fly. Overall, the women’s team took third place with 545.5 total points.
Unfortunately, at the following meet, the Gauchos lost the meet they hosted against the University of Nevada, Las Vegas rebels by a score of 150-107 for the men and 171-86 for the women.
Once again, freshman Brill dominated, finishing first in the 200-yard individual medley, third in the 100-yard backstroke and second in the 200-yard backstroke. Brouwer, junior Kennan Hotchkiss, freshman Matthew Driscoll and senior Timothy Lee each finished second in their events. Falcon was another big-time performer, finishing first in the 200-yard fly and second in the 200-yard individual medley.
Senior Molly McCance, junior Gillian Flath, freshman Tyryn Empremsilapa, Lawrence and Nibarger each had a second-place finish, with Nibarger also having a dual third-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle.
The women’s and men’s relay teams had identical finishes at third place in each of their 200-yard medley relays.
The Gauchos will look to rebound at their senior day on Saturday, Jan. 15, against Cal Baptist before they close their regular season on Jan. 22 at Pacific University.
