The UCSB men’s and women’s swim and dive teams celebrated their final dual meet of the season in winning fashion this past weekend with victories over visiting Cal Poly at Campus Pool on Saturday. The dual marked the last time 11 of the Gaucho senior swimmers would step into the pool during the regular season as they were honored at the meet.

“We came out against our rival and dispatched them,” Head Coach Gregg Wilson said. “I think our seniors did great — it’s a very good way for them to go out.”

The win marks the first time ever since the program’s start in 1961 that the men have gone undefeated in dual meets, handing Cal Poly a 163-124 loss and finishing the season at a perfect 6-0. The women also evened the score against Cal Poly, beating the Mustangs by a score of 169-129 and winning four straight dual meets to close out the season 6-3.

UCSB went strong from the beginning, winning eight of the first 10 events, including the women’s 200-yard medley where the “A” relay team showed another strong performance. Sophomores Allie Knight, Sophia Yamauchi, Andrea Ward and senior Kendall Neely beat the Mustangs by over two seconds, combining for a time of 1:45.50.

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The UCSB swim and dive team will play host to familiar opponent Cal Poly this Saturday at Campus Pool in their final dual meet of the season. The Gauchos will have a lot of emotion on their side as they plan to send their senior swimmers off on a high in their senior meets.

The Gaucho men will be honoring seven of their seniors, including captain Kevin Ferguson, who competes in the sprint freestyle and backstroke events. The women will bid farewell to four of their seniors, including their two captains, butterfly swimmer Miranda Schneider and backstroke swimmer Kendall Neely, who also swims as part of the 200-yard medley “A” relay team.

“This is an emotional meet,” Head Coach Gregg Wilson said. “All of the underclassmen want to win this for the team but also to send our seniors off.”

After coming off a huge victory against defending conference champions UC Davis, the women’s team will now shift its focus and turn their attention to Cal Poly which earlier in the fall handed the women’s team their worst defeat of the season (177.5-117.5).

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The UCSB swim and dive team completed its final road trip of the season this weekend, sweeping Pacific on Friday and beating women’s conference rivals UC Davis on Saturday at each of their opponents’ senior meets.

“This was a really good weekend for us,” Head Coach Gregg Wilson said. “It was the kind of thing where everyone contributed; everyone played a part in the victory.”

The men’s team beat Pacific 158-100 as they remain a perfect 5-0 in dual meets this season, while the women’s team defeated the Tigers 153-109 and Davis 162-138 as they improve to 5-3 in dual meets.

The men’s and women’s team swept the 1000-yard freestyle against Pacific as freshman Andrew Barmann continued his excellent play, winning the event with a time of 9:35.01, while sophomore Andrea Ward touched the wall at 10:21.42. The Gauchos were also able to sweep the 100-yard backstroke, 200-yard butterfly, 400-yard individual medley and 50-yard freestyle events, winning a total of 19 events on the day.

The men’s team had standout performances in the 200-yard freestyle as four Gauchos rounded out the top five. Senior Garrett Thompson won the event in 1:39.19, edging out fellow Gaucho senior Chris Peterson (1:39.92). Sophomore Andrew Dossa and sophomore Alexander Campbell finished third and fourth, respectively.

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After convincing victories over UNLV in their last dual meet, the UCSB men’s and women’s swim and dive teams prepare to travel up north where both teams will face Pacific on Friday and the women’s team will go up against UC Davis on Saturday. The Gauchos will have to overcome the emotional advantage held by the Tigers and Aggies as they visit on each team’s senior weekend.

“[It’s] going to be tough because on senior weekend there’s a lot of emotion,” Head Coach Gregg Wilson said. “[They] will have the emotion on their side, we have to generate our own emotion, our own enthusiasm.”

The Gaucho men are coming into their matchup against Pacific undefeated in dual meets, entering the contest with a perfect 4-0 record.

Meanwhile, the women’s team will seek to go above .500 for the first time this season in dual meets as they come into Friday’s match with a 3-3 record. The women will try to capitalize on the middle distance freestyle and distance freestyle events as they outmatch both Pacific and Davis in those areas.

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In their first meet of 2012, the UCSB men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams each captured victories in dual meets against UNLV Saturday at Campus Pool. With 17 total event victories, the men’s team was able to win with a score of 134-122 while the women handed the Rebels a 166-134 defeat.

With the victories, the men’s team remains a perfect 4-0 in dual meets this season, while the women’s team improves to an even 3-3 record.

UCSB got off to an early start in the meet, with both the men’s and women’s “A” relay teams sweeping the 200-yard medley relay. Sophomores Allie Knight, Sophia Yamauchi, Andrea Ward and senior Kendall Neely combined for a total time of 1:45.17, beating UNLV by over three seconds.

The men’s team edged out the Rebels in their 200-yard medley race, finishing with a time of 1:32.01, beating UNLV by 0.48 seconds.

Five different Gauchos won at least two individual events, including freshman Andrew Barmann, who pulled out victories in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 9:31.99 and the 500-yard freestyle, finishing in 4:37.20. Senior Chris Peterson was also a multiple event winner for the men’s side, winning two sprint freestyle races, placing first in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle with times of 20.42 and 44.80, respectively.

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This weekend both the UCSB men and women’s swim and dive teams finished seventh overall at the Texas Invitational meet at the University of Texas. The meet serves as the last competition for both teams until Jan. 21, when UNLV will come to Campus Pool at UCSB for a dual meet for both the men and women.

Ward had a standout performance at the Texas invitational, breaking three school records throughout the course of the weekend in the 100-meter butterfly, 200-meter freestyle and the 200-meter butterfly. Yamauchi took 19th in the 200-meter breast stroke with her personal best time of the season 2:14.19. The women’s 400-meter relay team of Neely, Yamauchi, Ward and junior Emma Hunt finished 12th in an NCAA ‘B’ cut time of 3:23.79.

For the men, senior Ryan Garcia finished 16th in the finals of the 200-meter backstroke with a time of 1:48.76. Senior Evan Simoni took 15th in the 200-meter breaststroke, touching the wall in 2:03.58. Junior Max Horrell had the best individual performance for the Gauchos on the last day of competition as he finished the 200-meter fly in ninth place overall, and first in his heat with a time of 1:48.14.

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‘Winter break’ will be more winter than break for the men’s and women’s swim and dive team this season. The squad will cease training for just 10 days during the holiday months, a stark contrast to the usual four-week rest period that the layover between quarters normally provides.

“Everyone else gets four weeks off, we get 10 days from [Dec.] 18-28,” senior Kevin Ferguson said. “We have to continue our training because it’s important going up to our championship meet in March.”

Though brief, the 10 days will be a welcome break from a strenuous season that began during September and will continue through March. The men’s team currently owns an undefeated 3-0 record during dual meets, with wins coming against Denver, UC San Diego and Cal Poly. The women’s team holds claim to a 2-3 overall record with wins coming against UC San Diego and Oregon State.

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A matchup of two conference rivals ended in a tie this weekend, when UCSB swimming and diving visited the Cal Poly Mustangs for a dual meet. The Gaucho men beat the Mustangs 116-114, while the women lost 142-99 in what was the final meet of the regular season for both teams.

“We knew it was gonna be a real close meet,” Head Coach Gregg Wilson said. “They were ready for us, and we knew it.”

Wilson had hoped to begin the meet with strong showings in the relay events, which he was granted when both the UCSB men and women won the 400-yard medley relay. The women’s all-freshman team of Allie Knight, Sophia Yamauchi, Andrea Ward and Anne Peanasky beat the Cal Poly relay team with a time of 3:50.03. The men’s squad of junior Ryan Garcia, junior Tim Freeman, sophomore Max Horrell and junior Chris Peterson touched the wall first in 3:21.24.

“We’ve got a very good medley relay,” Wilson said. “It opens up the meet with a bang because it’s a big point swing.”

The Cal Poly swim and dive team held a ceremony during the meet, honoring senior swimmers for their careers as Mustangs.

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UCSB will compete against a familiar opponent this weekend when the team travels north to San Luis Obispo for a duel meet against Cal Poly. The first meet between these two teams was held at Campus Pool in November when the UCSB men beat the Mustangs 155-141, and the women won with a score of 157-141.

“I issued a challenge to our team on Monday,” Head Coach Gregg Wilson said. “We go to their pool and give them a foreshadowing of what to expect in conference [championships] for the women and the men.”

After the Big West Conference swimming and diving program disbanded last year, the Cal Poly women’s swimming and diving team has now joined UCSB in the MPSF conference. This meet will be an opportunity to compete against a conference opponent before championship meets begin.

“It’s going to give us a sneak peek at MPSF meets,” junior Kendall Neely said. “It’ll give us a good indicator that if we’re swimming fast this weekend, we’ll be swimming fast at conference.”

The Cal Poly men’s team has also left the Big West conference and joined the Pac-10 along with the UCSB men’s swimming and diving team.

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It was both a joyous celebration and a sad goodbye for the women’s swimming and diving team this weekend, as three seniors helped beat UC Davis and University of the Pacific in what was the final home meet of the season for UCSB and the last of their individual collegiate careers. The men’s team, which did not lose any seniors, was also victorious against UOP by a score of 153-102. The women’s team beat the Aggies 190-10 and UOP 219-60.

Halfway through the meet, seniors Missy Burley, Astrid Amsallem and Brittany Borowitz were honored for their time spent as part of the UCSB swimming and diving team. The break provided an intermission to introduce and speak about each athlete’s contributions to the program.

“Losing them is going to be hard for our team,” Assistant Coach Tim Siciliano said. “Missy is the pioneer of the diving program. Brittany is like the mom of the team, and she’s done such a great job. And Astrid, she’s just unbelievably driven.”

The men’s medley relay team of junior Kevin Ferguson, junior Tim Freeman, sophomore Max Horrell and junior Chris Peterson won with a time of 1:32.18. Peterson, junior Garrett Thompson, freshman Lucas Norman and freshman Andrew Dossa helped improve UCSB’s score with first through fourth place finishes in the men’s 200-yard freestyle.

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The first home meet of 2011 is also the last of the season for UCSB men and women’s swimming and diving, and will once again have UCSB race against a high level of competition. Last year’s Big West Conference champion UC Davis as well as the Pacific swimming and diving team comes to Campus Pool this Saturday for dual meets against the Gauchos.

“[The meet] means a lot,” Head Coach Gregg Wilson said. “Especially for these three women, as it’s their last year.”

The UCSB men’s team will not be losing any of its senior swimmers, but the women’s team will lose three seniors in diver Missy Burley, distance swimmer Astrid Amsallem and Brittany Borowitz, who competes in breaststroke, butterfly and individual medley events.

After competing in meets against nationally top-25 ranked teams such as UCLA, USC and UNLV, the UCSB women are prepared for the weekend’s meet against former champion UCD.

“Competing against top teams in the country motivates us to step up to tough competition,” junior Miranda Schneider said. “It gets us outside our comfort zones.”

Though the Big West conference has disbanded since the last time UCSB swam against the Aggies, Davis still has multiple swimmers returning from a championship team.

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Competing away from home is tough for any team, especially when traveling seven hours away on the road and more than 2,000 feet up in elevation. These factors were apparent during UCSB’s meet in Las Vegas, as both the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams fell in meets against UNLV. The women’s teams also beat Northern Arizona by a score of 182-98 in the same meet.

“[UNLV’s] biggest strength is that they were used to their pool and elevation,” freshman Andrea Ward said. “That was their home pool, and I think our team struggled a lot with the temperature and elevation.”

A long-standing rivalry was renewed when UNLV beat the UCSB men 160.5-99.5, while the UCSB women’s team fell 161-137.

“It was a typically exciting rivalry meet,” Head Coach Gregg Wilson said. “They were geared up for us and they just swam well.”

As has been apparent all season, the UCSB women’s freshman class had a huge impact throughout the weekend meet. Ward took first place in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:14.97 and also placed first in the 500-yard freestyle with 5:00.84. Freshman Sophia Yamauchi was also a multiple-event winner, as she finished first in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:02.88 and the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:16.7. Allie Knight was another first-year with more than one first-place finish; she got top times in both the 100- and 200-yard backstroke, as well the 400-yard individual medley.

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The UCSB men and women’s swim and dive teams are looking to find their first victory of the New Year this weekend in an away meet against rival UNLV.

The Gauchos travel to Las Vegas for a highly anticipated meet between two perennial conference rivals after losing to USC two weeks ago. The diving teams fell in their meet at UCLA during the same weekend.

“We had some good performances [at USC],” Head Coach Gregg Wilson said. “They were just that much better.”

Motivation won’t be an issue for the Gauchos this weekend as they look to gain some momentum on their seasons.

“It’s one of the longest rivalries we’ve had with any other team,” junior Ryan Garcia said.

The last time UCSB traveled to Las Vegas for a meet was two years ago, and UNLV proved to be a dominant competitor. The meet between the two teams last season was held at Campus Pool at UCSB, and yielded a victory for the Gauchos.

“To beat them at their pool after we beat them last year [at ours] would be a great achievement for our program,” Garcia said.

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The UCSB men and women’s swimming and diving teams each suffered losses this past weekend during separate meets at USC and UCLA. The Gaucho men’s swim team lost its doubleheader against the ninth-ranked Trojans 140-44 and 136-47. The UCSB women’s team was defeated by the fifth-ranked USC swimmers 156-92.

“We’re still learning how to be very competitive [in this league],” junior Chris Peterson said. “[and we’re learning] to motivate ourselves to realize that we need to take all [races] extremely seriously.”

This weekend’s host teams are currently ranked in national top-10 polls, and are prominent programs in the Pac-10 conference. After being a championship-caliber team for many years, a move from the Big West to the Pac-10 this past fall offers UCSB the chance to become dominant in a more competitive conference.

“We’re really excited since it’s an increase in competition,” Peterson said. “It gives us a lot of opportunity to grow and push ourselves further to compete on the same level as [other Pac-10 teams] are.”

Peterson was one of the few Gaucho men’s swimmers who finished with multiple first-place times during the meet. He won the 100-yard freestyle twice on Saturday, his fastest time being 44.70. The Gauchos garnered various second place finishes, including junior Kevin Ferguson’s with a 50-yard freestyle time of 21.11 and sophomore Max Horrell’s 23.35 time in the 50-yard fly.

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