WOMEN’S SWIMMING — The UCSD women’s swimming and diving team had not competed in the water for over a month, and the break proved unhelpful, as the Tritons fell 132-130 to rival Loyola Marymount University at home on Saturday, in one of the Tritons’ closest meets in recent years.
Last season, the Tritons narrowly defeated the Lions 105-99 at Loyola Marymount, but were unable to pull out the win this time around. Despite three first-place finishes from junior captain Alex Henley, the Tritons fell short in the final race.
Throughout the meet, the Tritons and Lions changed leads several times before the Tritons gained a seven-point edge going into the 400-yard freestyle relay. The Lions took first in the relay while the Tritons claimed second, but it was the LMU second team that pulled through and took the third-place finish and victory in the meet.
Despite the narrow defeat, there were many good signs and great performances from UCSD swimmers. Henley won the 1000-yard freestyle (10:32.09) and reclaimed the Triton lead before the last race by winning the 200-yard individual medley (2:08.94). She also set a personal record for herself this season, with a time of 2:05.74 in the 200-yard backstroke.
“Alex Henley really showed her versatility once again,” UCSD head coach Scott McGihon said. “Sometimes there’s a tendency to take her excellence for granted, but that was a very good performance today.”
The Tritons got the meet started well with a victory in the 200-yard medley relay. After the first race, the Lions won four of the next five, with sophomore Olivia Martens’ win in the 200-yard butterfly (2:10.12) the only Triton victory in that stretch.
After Henley’s win in the backstroke, though, the Tritons took the next four races. Emily Adamcyzk won the 200-yard breast stroke with a time of 2:22.44, and freshman Anji Shakya won the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:11.79. Henley won the individual medley.
“This was a disappointing meet to lose, but it was good to race again after eight weeks of training,” McGihon said. “We don’t really focus in on any one dual meet.”
The Tritons will travel to Bakersfield next weekend to take on Cal State Bakersfield and Fresno State.
Readers can contact Tyler Nelson at [email protected].
