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Swimming off to Speedo Cup

Bruins will gain vital experience in Long Beach

By Ross Bersot

The first opportunity for UCLA swimming to compete as a team in an environment similar to the postseason will be this Thursday through Saturday at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach, where UC Irvine is hosting the Speedo Cup. Over 40 teams will enter swimmers in the meet, making it the largest competition of the season for the Bruins.

"It's kind of a pre-meet to the (Pacific 10 conference meet) and the NCAA (championships)," head coach Cyndi Gallagher said. "Jill Jenkins and Annette Salmeen will swim in 14 events, seven preliminaries and seven finals. That is three individual events and four relays. A lot of people will do that, so they have to be in great shape and they have to get used to doing that because they will do it at the Pac-10s and at the NCAAs."

The coaching staff has granted the team a few days of rest before the meet so each swimmer will be able to race as fast as possible in both the preliminary and final heats.

"They went home for Thanksgiving, which is different than some teams, but I think it's ridiculous not to let them go," Gallagher said. "With all of the traveling over the holiday, it has been hard to get in the pool as much as we normally do, so their rest started when they went home. It worked out well. I wanted them to rest a little bit, not fully rest, which is all they need to go fast in December."

UCLA's sprint relay team will have to compensate for the loss of Michelle Perry, who broke her thumb during the Thanksgiving vacation. Other injured Bruins are Christa Thomas, who has a bone chip in her ankle, and Suzanne Steres who is undergoing shoulder surgery.

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