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Sophomore Kim Vandenberg won the 200m fly against both Stanford and Cal. No. 9 UCLA beat No. 3 St

Swimming: Bruins bask in new home pool advantage

UCLA overtakes Stanford, loses to Cal by less than half-second

David Graham-Caso
Published: Monday, February 2, 2004

Last Friday and Saturday, the atmosphere at the Student Activities Center pool was electric, and fittingly so – a pair of vital swim meets were battled out. Fans, alumni and parents crowded into the venue to see the No. 10 UCLA swimming and dive team host No. 4 Stanford and No. 6 California on consecutive days.

“This is our first meet with signs set up, bleachers for the fans, and a large crowd,” said coach Cyndi Gallagher. “Finally, after so many years we have a real home pool advantage.”

Swimming in front of Bruin faithfuls seemed to energize UCLA (7-2, 4-2 Pac-10). The Bruins knocked off Stanford on Friday 151-92 and then came less than a half-second away from beating Cal on Saturday.

The Golden Bears led the Bruins by a single point going into the final event of the meet, the 400-meter freestyle relay. After Cal superstar Natalie Coughlin gave the Bears an early lead by finishing the opening leg of the relay with a body-and-a-half length lead over UCLA, things looked bleak for the Bruins.

But, the back-half of the Bruin relay was not phased. Sophomore Kim Vandenberg (third leg) and senior Malin Svahnstrom (anchor leg) both gained substantial ground, nullifying the Cal lead and bringing the race down to the final few meters.

Despite the valiant comeback, Svahnstrom was out-touched by Cal junior Lauren Medina, and the Bears won the relay with a time of 3:44.89. UCLA came in at 3:45.3. With the 11 team points from the victorious relay, Cal edged UCLA 155-145.

The weekend was highlighted by impressive performances by the diving team. In both meets, dive coach Tom Stebbins’ squad gave the swim team a team-point lead. The dive team scored 21 points to Stanford’s 17 on Friday and swept Cal 32-6 on Saturday.

“Our divers set the tone,” Gallagher said. “They did awesome for us this weekend.”

Sophomore Sara Clark excelled on the three-meter platform, winning the event in both meets.

“Sara was huge for us,” Stebbins said. “These were her first collegiate meet wins, and she just did an outstanding job.”

Clark, who scored a personal best 276.75 in the three-meter platform against Stanford, thoroughly enjoyed the weekend.

“It was fun,” she said. “I was relaxed and calm and everything came together.”

The upset win against Stanford breaks an unlucky trend in UCLA swimming and diving history. Coming into Friday’s meet, the Bruins were 1-21 against the Cardinal.

UCLA wraps up the dual meet season on Feb. 14 at the Student Activities Center pool with a rivalry matchup against No. 8 USC. The final home dual meet will provide the Bruins one last chance to prepare for the Pac-10 tournament Feb. 25, where UCLA will attempt to defend its 2003 title.