While most UCSD students studied for fall finals, athletes from the swimming and diving teams competed on both ends of the West Coast. Junior Rosanna Delurgio qualified for the Olympic Trials in her 100-meter breaststroke swim on Dec. 4 at the U.S. Open in Federal Way, Wash.
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During the same weekend, on Dec. 6, UCSD sent five divers to the Redlands Diving Invitational, where all five placed eighth or better.
The U.S. Open is one of the most important meets in international swimming. Many of the fastest swimmers from around the world traveled to Washington to compete and to determine where they stand as the 2004 Olympics approach. The meet is so competitive that no other NCAA Division II team sent swimmers to the meet.
Three UCSD swimmers attended: Delurgio, senior Denise Bogard, and freshman Emily Harlan. Delurgio swam the 100 breaststroke and the 200 breaststroke, the events in which she holds the NCAA Division II records.
Her times in both races were lifetime bests. In the 200-meter race, she posted a mark of 2 minutes and 45.23 seconds. To qualify for the July Olympic Trials in the 100, she needed a 1:12:59 or better. Her time of 1:10.53 was well under the standard and placed her third among the Americans at the meet. Her overall place was ninth.
Bogard also swam the 100 breaststroke, setting a personal record of 1:13.55. She came in 26th and was the 15th fastest American.
Harlan competed in the 50 freestyle and the 100 freestyle (59.12). She earned 26th place with her time of 26.84 in the 50-meter race. Among Americans at the meet, she was 22nd.
Delurgio and Harlan had the strongest showings in earlier events. By the third day of the meet, both had gotten sick. UCSD swimming head coach Scott McGihon was impressed that they continued to swim personal bests despite their illness.
At the Redlands Invitational, the UCSD divers were also battling minor illnesses. Sophomore Jason Boehm only felt well enough to compete in one out of two events. Despite the fact that several of the divers were not feeling their best, the team managed to have a good showing overall.
On the men’s side, Daniel Gordin placed fifth on the 1-meter board. On the women’s side, junior Ashley Vogel came in second on the 1-meter board and third on the 3-meter board. Sophomore Jennifer Margrave earned 4th place on the 1-meter board and 5th on the 3-meter board.
After the U.S. Open and the Redlands Invitational, which capped six weeks of weekly meets, UCSD aquatics faced two weeks without competition, plus three without classes. The athletes did not, however, see this time as an occasion to ease up in practice.
For the UCSD swimming and diving teams, the term “”quarter break”” is a misnomer; the end of fall quarter was anything but a break for these students, who spent two of their three weeks off from school in intense training. There were two workouts per day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, that included not only swimming but weight-lifting and dry-land exercise as well.
Only one meet occurred during the break; the women’s swim team competed against the NCAA Division I Northern Arizona University women on Dec. 20 at UCSD’s Canyonview Pool. UCSD lost, 117-86.
A highlight of the meet was the 50-yard freestyle, in which UCSD claimed both first and second place. Senior co-captain Carolyn Kwok won with a time of 24.85. She was closely trailed by Delurgio, whose time was 25.05.
Other wins for the Tritons were Delurgio’s 100-yard breaststroke (1:05.87) and Harlan’s 100-yard freestyle (52.87). UCSD’s 200-yard freestyle relay team, comprised of Kwok, freshmen Liz Whiteley, Monica Becks, and Harlan, placed first. They finished in 1:39.26.
Because NAU ended their men’s swimming program in 1998, the UCSD men held an intrasquad meet to avoid having a four-week stretch of no competition.
McGihon commented on the effects of “”hell week”” training on the swimmers’ performances.
“”We were tired,”” he said. “”That put us at one week into our hell week. We had swum really hard the day before. You could see the fatigue. Everyone put in their best effort, but they were tired.””
Although the Triton swimmers were slightly slower than usual during their difficult training, they hope that their times will eventually drop as a result of their hard work during the holidays.
Currently, the UCSD men are 1-3, while the women are 3-2.
In January, the women have a meet every weekend, while the men will compete only twice. Both teams will participate in the next meet, which is against University of Utah on Jan. 10 at UCSD.
