UCLA Sweeps Iowa, Utah & UC Santa Barbara at Bruin Quad Meet
The meet featured two events, the 50 free and the 100 IM, both held in a skins format, along with some off distances such as 150s and 300s. Current photo via UCLA Athletics
LOS ANGELES – The UCLA swimming and diving team earned a clean sweep at the Bruin quad meet on Saturday. The Bruins took down Utah 164-75, Iowa 159-80, and UC Santa Barbara 160-79.
The day featured two events, the 50 free and the 100 IM, both held in a different style than usual on Saturday. The two events featured a skin-style race where, after the eight competitors took part in the event, the top six would move on to the next round, then after the second round, the top four moved on, followed by the top two in the third round, who moved on to compete for the race win.
After winning two of three duals last week in a quad meet with UC San Diego, Wisconsin and Tulane, the Bruins swept past UC Santa Barbara, Utah and Iowa on Saturday. Over the course of the meet, the Bruins earned event wins in all but two events.
Jada Duncan continued her great weekend with two wins and a second-place finish on Saturday. The freshman won the 50 fly in 24.67, came in second in the 50 back with a time of 26.25, and helped the UCLA ‘A’ relay squad take the top spot in the 200 medley relay.
Rosie Murphy also had a stellar Saturday, taking part in four events and winning two of the four. She took the 150 back in 1:25.67, and then put on an impressive performance in the 100 IM along with Bennetts.
In the 100 IM, Murphy and Bennetts both swam four times, making it all the way to the final round of the competition, in which the two Bruins went head-to-head in the final. Murphy came out on top in 56.28 in the final heat.
Bennett, in addition to her second-place finish in the 100 IM, also won the 150-yard breaststroke on Saturday. She powered her way to the line in 1:38.74, and was the only competitor to finish under 1:40.00 in the discipline.
In the distance events, Applejean Gwinn was the top performer on the day for UCLA. The freshman won both the 800 free and the 300 IM. In the 800 free Gwinn finished in first in 8:11.77, and then in the 300 IM she took the top spot in 3:13.73.
As for day two of the Bruin Diving Invitational, UCLA had two divers earn spots in the finals session of the 3m diving competition. Junior Molly Brascia and senior Eden Cheng both earned second sessions after taking sixth and seventh, respectively, in the prelims session.
In the finals session, Cheng climbed all the way to the top spot with a score of 326.40 in finals to take her total tally to 602.60 on the day. Her score of 326.40 was the highest score of any Bruin on 3m so far this season. Brascia also climbed from sixth to second overall, finishing with a total score of 580.80 across the two sessions.
Up Next: UCLA returns to action tomorrow morning with the third day of action at the Bruin Diving Invitational. The meet is scheduled to begin at 10:30 am PT from Spieker Aquatics Center.
Courtesy: Iowa Athletics
LOS ANGELES – University of Iowa swimming and diving completed its quad meet against UCLA, UC Santa Barbara and Utah on Saturday afternoon in the Spieker Aquatics Center.
The Hawkeyes beat Utah, 122.50-117.50. Iowa fell to UC Santa Barbara (112-109) and UCLA (164-73).
Flowers continued the momentum throughout the meet. In the 50 butterfly, she placed second in 24.70. Flowers then won the 50 freestyle skins race, touching the wall in 23.35.
Sophomore Nora Kemp tallied points for Iowa in the 800 freestyle. She finished third overall with a final time of 8:16.66.
HEAR FROM HEAD COACH NATHAN MUNDT
“We had a non-traditional meet today, which provided us an opportunity to mix things up and try some different events. Overall, we learned a lot about how to challenge ourselves against three very good programs. We’ve had a great trip out on the West Coast for the first time in program history.”
In the 150 freestyle, junior Jenna Kerr placed second. She finished the race in 1:20.77. Fellow Hawkeye Audrey Olen placed right behind her in third in 1:21.00.
Junior Olivia Swalley collected points for the Hawkeyes as well throughout the meet. In the 300 IM, Swalley finished in 3:13.97 to place second overall. Swalley claimed silver in the 100 IM skins race as well, finishing in 58.71.
During the 150 butterfly event, junior Josie Hood scored for Iowa. Finishing in third place, Hood completed the race in 1:30.83.
Senior diver Geneva Pauly was the Hawkeyes’ top diver on Saturday afternoon. In the 3-meter preliminary round, Pauly totaled 259.50 to move on in fourth place. Pauly qualified for the finals, where she finished 14th with a total of 506.20 points for the day.
Up Next:Geneva Pauly will compete from the platform on Sunday.
LOS ANGELES – The busy weekend for Utah swim and dive continued on Saturday as the women’s swim team competed against UCLA, Iowa and UCSB in a quad meet while the men’s and women’s diving programs competed at the second day of the UCLA Diving Invite.
On the swimming front, the Utah women collected six podium finishes in the water at Spieker Aquatic Center. Erin Palmer led the way for the Utes, tying for second in the 50 Free and placing third in the 50 Breast.
“We had some nice swims today,” head coach Jonas Persson said. “It was a challenging meet in many ways. Some stepped up and got the job done, while some had a harder time. Unfortunately we lost two meets that we should’ve won, but that should motivate the women to step up for the seven weeks we have left if the season.”
On the boards, Elias Petersen and Kathryn Grant both finished in the top-six on their respective boards. Petersen placed fifth in the platform event while Grant led the Utah women with a sixth-place showing on the 3-meter springboard after winning on 1-meter yesterday.
“We had another strong day today and we’re gaining some really valuable experience against top-flight competition,” head diving coach Richard Marschner said. “Having four women in the top 13 of finals on 3-meter is incredible against this field. Annalise Shrader and Cierra Cole both hit personal bests and nearly earned their first zone cuts, which is extremely difficult to do at this meet, and Elias also set a PB on tower as he debuted 5253 and scored 75 points on it in finals. We have two very strong events tomorrow and I’m expecting that we will continue to show out well in LA.”
In the Pool
Utah finished fourth out of the four teams in LA, but the Utes were still able to log six podium finishes.
Julia Bartell logged a personal best in the 50 Fly, touching the wall in 25.67 to place eighth.
Stephanie Oiesen logged a third-place finish in the 150 Back, clocking a 1:30.27.
Steinmetz also placed third in the 300 IM, logging a 3:17.85.
Erin Plamer tied for second in 50 Free skins, logging a 23.66. She finished one spot ahead of Bartell, who touched the wall in 23.98. Palmer also logged a 24.48 in the event.
Palmer placed third in the 50 Breast with a 29.33, two spots ahead of McColley’s 29.91.
Isabella Riso came in fourth in the 150 Free, touching the wall in 1:22.07.
Sydney Even tied for fourth in the 150 Fly with a 1:31.15.
On the Boards
After two top-two results in Friday’s competition, the Utes had another strong day on the boards.
Petersen led the way for the Utah men on platform, placing fifth with a 655.85 combined score between prelims and finals. Alex Just finished seventh with a 592.00 and Attila Bernatsky rounded out the Utes’ lineup with a 548.70, placing tenth.
Up Next
Utah diving will wrap up competition at the UCLA Diving Invitational on Sunday, Jan. 11, beginning at 11:30 a.m. The whole Utah swimming and diving program will reconvene for the Big 12 West Championships at Arizona State on Friday, Jan. 16.
Courtesy: UCSB Athletics
LOS ANGELES, Ca. – The Women’s swim team went 2-1 in their opening meet of 2026. The Gauchos, along with the Utah Utes, Iowa Hawkeyes, and UCLA Bruins, swam three head-to-head meets in Los Angeles, California, today. The Blue and Gold defeated the Utes (UCSB 146.50, UTAH 92.50), as well as Iowa, who fell to Santa Barbara (UCSB 136, Iowa 106). Unfortunately, the Gauchos were unable to overcome the hosting Bruins’ effort (UCLA 160, UCSB 79).
How It Happened
In the 50 Yard Breast, Ashley Ray brought Gold back home with a time of 28.78. Miranda Stevenson was right behind her, securing second place for the Gauchos, posting a time of 29.29. Ashley Ray also finished in second place in the 150 Breast (1:40.74). Samantha Banos secured first place in the 150 Yard Fly (1:29.17). Caitlin Brown brought back a third-place finish in 50 Fly with a time of 25.18. Both the 200 Free Relay (1:32.93) and Medley Relay (1:43.42) finished in second place today.
Next Time Out
The UC Santa Barbara swim team will make its 2026 home debut on the 19th when UOP and UC Davis make their way to the 805. This will be the first time in 2026 that the Men’s swim team will compete as the women look to take their 2-1 result from this weekend into the next meets.
