Bruins ready to dive into meets

Published: Friday, January 30, 1998

Friday, January 30, 1998

SWIM: Stanford Cardinal, Cal Bears pose back-to-back challenge for team this weekend

By Steve Kim

Daily Bruin Contributor

Rain or shine, two swim meets in two days. The Bruins are ready for some fast swimming as they prepare to host powerhouse Stanford and formidable Cal.

Today, the Cardinal pays the Bruins a visit at the Men's Gym pool. Included in the party are Olympian sprinter Catherine Fox, who will compete head on with UCLA sophomore Keiko Price and world champion butterflier Misty Hymen, who will take on senior Jill Jenkins.

Bruin senior breaststroker Lindsay Etter will look to beat Stanford's Ellen Estevol. Estevol finished first at the Pac-10 championships two years ago, but Etter redeemed herself the next year at the same championships. Etter is looking forward to racing her long-time competitor and participating in the meet as a whole.

"It's going to be fun racing Stanford," said Etter. "There are going to be some great races in there. They have a lot of depth."

Head coach Cyndi Gallagher agrees on Stanford's depth and reputation. She said: "Stanford's been winning national championships for so many years (except last year, when they lost to USC). A lot of kids have this dream of swimming for Stanford, so they get top recruits."

Gallagher also thinks swimming against Stanford will push the Bruins up a notch. She said: "We're lucky to swim against a fast team. That's exciting. I think you can swim faster when you race against fast people."

But don't misunderstand. Gallagher and the team are not intimidated by Stanford's reputation or star swimmers.

"I think they may intimidate other swimmers, but we don't look at it that way," she said. "I mean, they still have to put on their swim suits and swim, too. They're just another swimmer."

"We can swim great and not win. We're definitely not going to roll over for Stanford."

Price takes the laid-back approach. "It's just a matter of staying focused, concentrating on the races and having fun. I think we should definitely try to have fun," she said.

For the home meet against Cal on Saturday at noon, a win is within reach. Cal has an artillery of three foreign swimmers who provide worthy matches against the Bruins.

UCLA and Cal have had a big rivalry. Last year, Cal took the win with a difference of only one point. This year, just about every Bruin wants their title back.

"As far as swimming goes, we have a really harsh relationship with Cal right now," said Jenkins, a backstroker. "It's going to be really close and everybody's going to swim her heart out."

Senior long distance swimmer Cindy Bertelink said, "We're looking to turn the tables. I definitely think we're capable of doing much more than we did last year. We're going to be able to step it up".

Etter also has something to say. "I know we have a better team than they. There's no reason why we shouldn't beat them. I would love to see everyone, especially the freshmen, step up and beat people to the wall."

So the Bruins are confident against Cal. But what about the fact that they have to race Cal only a day after they race Stanford? Racing two days in a row can take its toll.

Gallagher brushes that off by saying, "We just have to get used to it. We have to have two great swims. We're going to swim hard the first day. For the second race, we're going to swim faster or as fast. It's going to be tougher the next day because when you're rested, it's a lot easier. But we still can do it. We have to."