Sunday, October 12th, 2008

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<p>The No. 9 UCLA swimming and diving team faces No. 3 Stanford and No. 5 Cal in dual meets this wee

The No. 9 UCLA swimming and diving team faces No. 3 Stanford and No. 5 Cal in dual meets this wee

Swimming: UCLA to duel Stanford and Cal

The two highest-ranked swimming and diving teams in the Pac-10 will travel to Westwood to take on the Pac-10 champions.

UCLA will host No. 3 Stanford on Friday and No. 5 California on Saturday, two teams that have a history of beating the No. 9 Bruins in dual meets.

In their history, the Bruins have gone 1-21 against Stanford and 9-12 against Cal.

Still, the UCLA swimming and diving team remains confident.

They did beat both schools in the 2003 Pac-10 Championships.

“I think we’re the better team, but it will be close,” swimming coach Cyndi Gallagher said.

The scoring format is different in dual meets than the Pac-10 championships.

Dual meets place a greater point value on winning an event instead of finishing second, third, fourth or fifth. The Pac-10 championships reward non-first place finishes more.

This method can be problematic for UCLA since Cal and Stanford both feature many Olympian-caliber swimmers.

“Cal and Stanford all have kids that can win events, and that puts pressure on us,” Gallagher said.

One of them is Cal’s Natalie Coughlin, three-time NCAA Swimmer of the Year and winner of international awards such as world records in the 100- and 200-yard backstrokes and the 100-yard butterfly.

“Cal has the best swimmer in the country in Coughlin,” Gallagher said. “If anyone is interested in the Olympics, they should come out and see her.”

UCLA will counter with its six All-Americans.

Gallagher says her seniors need to step up and specifically named Naoko Watanabe, Kristen Lewis, Malin Svahnstrom and Sara Platzer as swimmers who need to be at their best to beat Stanford and Cal.

Cal and Stanford have great divers as well, and diving coach Tom Stebbins is counting on the Bruins to be up to the task.

“I’m looking for Amanda Blong to lead our charge,” Stebbins said. “And (Janine) Strack and (Sara) Clark to fill in the holes.”

The diving events will take place at Sunset Canyon Recreation Center, and the swimming events will be held at the Student Activities Center Pool.