THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The Cougars men’s and women’s swim teams defeated the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos Friday night at the Samuelson Aquatics Center.
The BYU men’s swim team won 170-54 and the women scored 122-102 to complete a sweep of the duel. The Cougars racked up 18 first place finishes across the 24 total events on the night with the women collecting seven and the men 11.
“I was really proud of our team's effort today against UCSB.” Head coach Tamber McAllister said, “Our freshmen stepped up in some key moments and got their hands on the wall first. What stood out even more was the energy on deck and the commitment every athlete showed to each other. It was a true team performance and a great example of the culture we're building.”
For the women, true freshman Summer Thresher won two events taking first overall in the 100 and 200 backstroke. The Chico, California native touched the wall in the 100 backstroke in 53.54, just over half a second shy of her school record finish at the Intermountain Shootout two weeks ago.
Ana Loveridge and Tatum Cooley finished the 100 freestyle just 0.09 seconds apart to take first and second finishing in 50.73 and 50.82 seconds respectively. Emilie Griffin claimed victory in the 200 breaststroke while Sarah Eliason won the 100 butterfly.
Junior Haylee Tiffany won the 200 freestyle touching the wall in 1:50.10 while Chesney Bonner rounded out the final win in the 200 individual medley finishing in 2:06.13 to total the Cougars at 122 points.
On the men’s side Max Kleinman swept every event he competed in taking first in the 200 backstroke, 200 individual medley while helping boost both the 200 medley relay squad and 200 freestyle relay groups to first place finishes.
Peter Etzold, who helped Kleinman capture first in the 200 medley relay also claimed two individual records for himself sweeping the breaststroke category with wins in the both 100 and 200 yard distances. While neither time was a personal best for the Cape Town, South Africa native, Etzold beat out the second place finisher in both events by nearly two seconds.
Joshua Reed, a member of the 200 freestyle squad that took first also claimed victory in the 100 freestyle finishing in 44.84 seconds. Tanner Nelson and Tanner Edwards rounded out the other freestyle distances with wins for BYU with Nelson taking first in the 200 freestyle and Edwards first in the 50 freestyle.
Max Cannon won the 200 backstroke for the Cougars while Jacob Aina won the 100 butterfly with Mattia Reina taking first in the 200 butterfly. The men accumulated 170 points over the 11 first place performances to more than triple UC Santa Barbara’s score of 54.
Up Next
The Cougars continue their road trip tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 17 at the MPSF Open Water Championships in Long Beach, California at Marine Stadium. The first event begins at 10:00 a.m. MDT with streaming available on GOLS.