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Mia Bugarin of Altadena, California has announced her commitment to swim and study at UCLA, starting in the fall of 2026. She trains year-round with Rose Bowl Aquatics and attends La Canada High School.
Bugarin made the announcement on Instagram, writing:
I am beyond grateful to announce my commitment to continuing my academic and athletic career at UCLA! To my parents—your constant support and countless sacrifices mean the world to me, and I’m so lucky to have you by my side. Thank you to Coach Andrew, Coach Hector, and all of my coaches for teaching me so much more than just swimming, reminding me to stay grounded, and always trusting the process. To my family and friends—thank you for always having my back and being the steady support I needed through every step of this journey. Finally, I want to thank Coach Jordan and Coach Karissa for giving me the opportunity to be part of something truly special. GO BRUINS!
Bugarin is a freestyler who specializes in the 200, 500, and 1650 distances. She’s on a strong trajectory, having lowered her best times in her key events every season of her high school career.
Her first big meet of the 2024-25 season was the Winter Junior Championships in December, where she swam the 200, 500, and 1650 freestyles. Her highest placement came in the 1650, where she swam a season-best 17:13.48 for 37th. She also clocked 4:57.80 for 48th in the 200 free and 1:52.37 for 71st in the 200 free, both just shy of her career bests.
After an intensive winter training block, Bugarin swam the 1650 free in addition to some off events at the RBAC March Madness Sprint meet in February. There, she won the 1650 in her first-ever sub-17 minute outing of 16:57.78, and that stands as her current lifetime best.
Bugarin’s high school season target meets were the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section Championships and the CIF State Championships, both held in early May.
The Section meet was Bugarin’s best of the year, where she won gold in both of her individual events with best times. She stopped the clock at 1:49.49 to win the 200 free, breaking 1:50 for the first time, before clipping her 500 PB by a few tenths en route to victory in 4:51.72. She also split 24.15 on the winning 200 free relay and split 52.03 on the runner-up 400 free relay.
Bugarin added a bit at State, where she touched fourth in the 500 free (4:53.67) and 13th in the 200 free (1:51.24), and helped the 400 free relay take 21st with a 52.24 split and the 200 free relay secure 30th with her 24.87 contribution.
Top SCY Times:
- 200 Freestyle: 1:49.49
- 500 Freestyle: 4:51.72
- 1650 Freestyle: 16:57.78
The Bruins are led by head coach Jordan Wolfrum, who enters her seventh season at the helm in 2025–26. In their first year in the Big Ten, UCLA took seventh out of 14 teams at the conference championships. The previous season, they had finished fourth at the Pac-12 Championships. They closed their year at NCAAs in Federal Way, Washington, where they placed 37th, scoring 7 points behind junior diver Eden Cheng.
The conference meet scores ‘A’, ‘B’, and ‘C’ finals. To earn a slot in the ‘C’ final at the 2025 meet, it took times 1:47.11 in the 200 free and 4:46.00 in the 500 free. In the mile, which is raced as a timed final, 16:32.23 was required to score points.
On the team’s 2024-25 depth chart, senior Gizem Guvenc led the way in the 200 free with a time of 1:45.30, while junior Ashley Kolessar topped the 500 (4:46.05) and 1650 (16:29.49).
Bugarin will join Zoie Fjare, Sora Koike, Alex Fox, Meredith O’Grady, Ava Otteson, and Olivia Sina in UCLA’s Class of 2030.
If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best) and a quote to [email protected].
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