SWIMMING ‘mdash; Revenge is a dish best served cold, as the saying goes, but it could not have been less accurate for the Triton women at their swim meet against Loyola Marymount University on Jan. 10.
The Tritons would have taken revenge served any way possible in their attempt to bounce back from the shameful loss to the Lions last season. UCSD swam an immaculate race against its bitter rivals and began its post-meet cooldown and lunch by the second intermission.
‘Is that what you call a beat down?’ asked men’s swim captain Daniel Perdew, who came to show his support for the women’s team as the men’s team did not have a meet.
The Tritons clearly outswam the Lions, winning 11 of the 14 events. It had been a long victory in waiting for UCSD, which lost a bitterly close race to Loyola Marymount last year by a score of 131-128. The team did not leave a possibility for another close finish this year as the Tritons came out powered by the support from their team, parents and the home crowd.
The day began with a victory by the 200-yard medley team, led by freshman Shea Kopp, freshman Mercedes O’Brien, sophomore Jessica Ferguson and senior captain Aubrey Panis, with a time of 1:48.69. Freshman Alexandra Henley, sophomore Ashtyn Douglas, sophomore Anju Shimura and senior Jennifer Sims each recorded two wins for the Tritons in impressive performances.
‘Last year we didn’t have a good meet,’ Panis said. ‘This year we just came out [and] didn’t let anything like last year happen. It feels so good to beat our rival and by so much.’
The Triton women raced one of their best meets of the season, coming out strong and finishing just as well en route to a decisive 158-104 victory.
Adding to their convincing win over Loyola Marymount, the UCSD men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams hosted a dual meet against Grand Canyon University on Jan. 11. The competition held special significance for the Tritons as it was the last home meet for UCSD’s 10 seniors. Parents, fans and friends gathered to cheer on the seniors in the last home meet of their careers.
It was an emotional day for the Tritons, coming off of a huge win against their bitter rival the day before, but they were able to build on it and quickly got down to business against Grand Canyon University. UCSD had no trouble putting away its opponents, winning every event of the day and sweeping most. The Tritons defeated the Antelopes by a whopping score of 171-15.
‘We worked hard to avoid the emotional letdown from this weekend,’ head coach Scott McGihon said. ‘I talked to them earlier in the week, and we just needed to come out and swim.’
The emphasis on the day was clearly on the senior class, especially captains Panis, Shannon Simonds, Perdew and Steven Hardy.
‘It feels good to go out on a win, but it would have been good for it to be more competitive,’ Perdew said. As the Tritons raced through the day they reflected on their time swimming at UCSD.
‘My fondest memory was the first day they opened this pool,’ Hardy said. ‘It was horrible ‘mdash; the heater wasn’t working, so it was cold. There were metal rails all around the pool and there were no trees.’
The seniors’ final home meet brought out some mixed feelings from the Triton veterans.
‘It feels weird,’ Simonds said. ‘I don’t know what to do after this.’
Even though this season’s home meets are over, the Tritons are amid a tough schedule. The Triton women will face the University of San Diego at the Toros’ home pool on Jan. 16 and the men’s and women’s teams have a meet at UC Irvine on Jan. 17.
The Tritons will be looking to improve their times over the next month while preparing for conference championships in Long Beach on Feb. 18.
Readers can contact Tyler Nelson at [email protected].