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  NICOLE MILLER/Daily Bruin Freshman diver Kasey Reinhard spins in the air during a meet earlier this season. The Bruin diving team helped the swimmers win in Texas. Texas Invitational 1. UCLA 553.5 2. Stanford 529.5 3. Texas 501.5

By Calley Prezzano

Daily Bruin Contributor

The UCLA women’s swim and dive team proved once again that it has what it takes to be No. 1 in the country.

Half of the swim team traveled to Austin, Texas, and with the help of the divers, won the Texas Invitational this past weekend. The other half of the swimmers raced just as well in Long Beach at the Speedo Cup.

“Everyone had either a lifetime best or a season best time this weekend,” UCLA head coach Cyndi Gallagher said.

At the Texas Invitational, senior Beth Goodwin placed second to Stanford’s Misty Hyman, an Olympic gold medalist, by less than half a second in the 100-yard butterfly. Her time of 53.43 qualified her for the NCAAs in the 100-yard butterfly and she also qualified for the 200-yard butterfly with a mark of 1:58.14.

Freshman Sara Platzer earned third place and an NCAA cut in both the 50-yard (22.90) and 100-yard (49.54) freestyle races. Junior Lyndee Hovsepian made two NCAA cuts in the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke. Additionally, sophomores Erica Shugart and Erin Zehntner qualified for NCAAs in one event each, the 50-yard freestyle and the 1,650-yard freestyle, respectively.

The squad is swimming fast, but the concentration right now lies on swimming together and with good technique.

“I never focus on winning,” Gallagher said. “If we had gotten second we would be just as excited as if we won.”

After winning their second invitational of the season, the Bruins see that the No. 1 position is truly theirs to keep.

“At first we were intimidated by (the No. 1 ranking),” junior Katie Younglove said.

But after seeing the results at recent meets, she also sees the team’s growing confidence. “We deserve to be number one. We now know it’s not a fluke,” Younglove added.

The women’s diving team played a crucial role in the Texas win. Senior Anne Baghramian, sophomore Regan Gosnell and freshman Michelle Brown all placed well in their individual events. All five competing Bruins finished in the top 10 in the platform event, and four were in the top 16 in others.

The team, coached by Tom Stebbins, helped lead the Bruins to an overall victory.

“It’s good for the girls to compete with the swimmers,” Stebbins said. “They see that they do make a difference.”

At The Speedo Cup, the swim team was racing against large, fully rested teams like Hawaii and No. 7 USC. However, UCLA challenged these teams and fared well.

“We came in there with a lot of confidence in ourselves,” UCLA assistant coach Susan Trainer said. The team did well overall, but the freshmen as a whole were outstanding.

Freshman Kristen Lewis made the NCAA “B” Consideration Cut in the 200-yard butterfly. Freshmen Katie Winklehaus and Naoko Watanabe were slightly off in the backstroke for the Consideration Cut.

Because the team doesn’t compete again until after the New Year, it is important for them to stay in shape and remain motivated during the break from class. However, it shouldn’t be a problem. During the next two weeks, training will be light due to finals.

But after that, Gallagher will show no mercy.

“Starting Saturday morning after finals, we’ll kill them for a week. Then, when they come back (after the holidays) we’ll kill them again,” she said.

The team knows this and has little trouble staying motivated while training away from school. By focusing on end of the season goals, the swimmers stay inspired and put in the extra effort when training on their own.

“We get worked pretty hard right before winter break,” junior Jen Noddle said. “We don’t want to put in all that work and have it go to waste.”

When competition starts again, the entire diving travel squad will be at the Georgia Invitational in Athens Jan. 5-7. This meet gives the team a chance to look at the competition in the Southeastern Conference.

“It’s kind of like a ‘welcome back’ meet,” Stebbins said. “It’s always really competitive; we’re really looking forward to that.”

The next swim meet will be against Washington State and UCSD on Jan. 13. Although these teams do not have any big names that UCLA should worry about, the Bruins say it is always important to race hard against every team they face.

“Last year, Stanford was ranked No. 1, overlooked us, and we beat them,” Gallagher recalled.

The swimmers also realize the importance of giving their best effort at the meet. Younglove sees it as a warm-up meet after coming back from winter break.

“It will be a meet to race against ourselves,” she said. “We’ll be getting back into the racing mode.”

Although the team is swimming fast, Gallagher knows the swimmers haven’t hit their peak yet. “We still have a lot of improvements to make,” she said.