The UCSD men’s and women’s swim team competed in the annual Pacific Collegiate Swim Conference Championships last weekend.
Guardian
The UCSD swim teams were ready to compete on the first day. In the women’s 500 freestyle final, Tori Bushnell of the University of San Diego finished first with a time of 4:58.20. Right behind her was Jennifer Watanabe of Triton pride with a time of 5:02.30. In the women’s 200-meter individual medley final, Carolyn Gorrick from rival USD captured the crown. Kersten Wehde of UCSD came in ninth, the fastest swimmer on the team in this competition, to give UCSD vital team points. In the men’s 200 individual medley, Cheyne Bloch from the University of Hawaii swam the top spot with a time of 1:50.61. Ryan Wong of UCSD came in fifth, a good showing in such a tough race. The last race featured the men’s 400 medley relay final, CSU Bakersfield defended their championship from a year ago with a time of 03:24.62. The Triton B team came in fifth.
Day two began with the women’s 200 medley relay, which featured the fastest women in the Pacific area. The race belonged to rival USD, as its A team won with a time of 1:47.48. UCSD’s A, B and C teams all placed within the top 10.
The women’s 400 individual medley pinned the best three athletes in the competition against one another. In the end, USD’s Carolyn Gorrick and Tori Bushnell, winners of previous heats, took first and second respectively. In an impressive swim, UCSD sophomore Watanabe placed third. In the women’s 100 breaststroke, Sandra Lopez of UCSD won convincingly, nearly two seconds ahead of No. 2 Monica Oleksyn of Pepperdine. Rachel Arthur finished third in the final. The women’s 200 medley was another victory for USD with a finish of 7:37.10. The A team from UCSD placed second with a time of 7:45.54.
On the men’s side, the University of Hawaii completely dominated the field. In the men’s 100 butterfly, Jacob Fraire of CSU Bakersfield took home top honors, with UH’s John Pierce right behind him. Pat Carter of UCSD finished ninth.
The team from Hawaii dominated the men’s 100 breaststroke as it claimed the top four spots in the final. UCSD’s Luke Seed managed to get eighth but looked from the outside as the race belonged to the Rainbows. In the men’s 100 backstroke final, UH’s Stephen Freas claimed victory. UCSD’s Stephanie Wong finished sixth. In the brutal 800 freestyle relay, CSU Bakersfield beat out University of Hawaii by only two seconds in a remarkable finish. The Tritons mustered a strong seventh in the competition with a time of 7:03.24.
On the last day of the competition, the women’s team from USD swam its way into the victory lane. In the women’s 1650 freestyle final, USD occupied the first three stops in the winner’s column. The Tritons’ own Nina Tomasevich made a run for the top of the list but finished fourth.
UCSD claimed victory as Watanabe won the 200 backstroke final, beating out Melissa Willard of USD by less than two seconds. The Tritons were again victorious when Lopez won the 200 breaststroke final with a time of 02:21.29. In the last race for the women, the 400 freestyle relay, USD once again beat out the competition with a time of 03:29.29. The Tritons’ A team finished a commendable third place, just beating out the B squad. As for the men, the University of Hawaii impressively claimed first place in four of the six races, dominated the last race, the 400 freestyle relay, by nearly five seconds over second place CSU Bakersfield.
“”It was a good meet,”” Watanabe said. “”We now have a full team of 18 women to compete in nationals, so that should help our chances of doing well. USD was really prepared for this tournament, and they went out and swam well. [Being] second to them is not bad.””
All in all, the women’s team from USD and the men’s team from UH took top honors, but the athletes that represented UCSD performed extremely well and look to regain their winning form for the remainder of the season and into nationals.
“”There will be four teams from Division II competing for the national title,”” Watanabe said. “”We are among there, among those teams. We are expected to swim well and I personally am excited to compete for the championship.””
