UCLA Finishes Third at the Fresno State Invite

FRESNO, Calif. – The UCLA swim team opened its 2021-22 season with a third-place finish at the six-team Chick-fil-A Invite at the Fresno State Aquatics Center, totaling 670 points.

The Bruins narrowly finished behind runner-up San Diego State (679.5) despite not entering any divers into the two-day, three-session competition.

First-place California (1481.5), fourth-place Fresno State (396), fifth-place Washington State (307), and sixth-place San Jose State (221) rounded out the team scores.

UCLA had 15 separate swimmers record top-10 individual finishes in their respective races, including a team-high four from freshman Ana Jih-Schiff in her official collegiate debut. Senior Delaney Smith had a trio of top-10 finishes, followed by two apiece from sophomore Sam Baron, junior Sophia Kosturos, junior Brooke Schaffer, senior Ella Kirschke, freshman Mia Chang, and junior Gabby Dang.

Four Bruins logged top-five finishes, including third-place results from Kirschke (200 IM) and junior Stephanie Su (1650 free) as well as fifth-place finishes by senior Abriana Howard (200 back) and Smith (200 IM).

On the relay side, UCLA had its best performance in the 800 free, with the quartet of Rachel Rhee, Brooke Schaffer, Ella Kirschke, and Delaney Smith completing the race in 7:31.12

During Session 1 of the meet on Friday morning, UCLA saw its most notable performance in the 200 IM, as Kirschke and Smith both finished in the top-five while half of the top-10 ended up being Bruins (Baron, Jih-Schiff, and Mia Chang placed 8-9-10).

Session 2 was highlighted by the 800 free relay, while notable individual finishes included Smith in the 400 IM (4:24.83, sixth), Eva Carlson in the 100 breast (1:03.33, sixth), and Chang in the 100 back (56.94, seventh).

The meet concluded with Session 3 on Saturday. The individual performances started off with a solid showing in the mile by Su (third) and freshman Taylor Schaffer (17:59.66, sixth), and also saw a top-five finish from Howard in the 200 back.

UCLA is next in action on Saturday, Oct. 23, hosting UC Santa Barbara at Spieker Aquatics Center in the first of two home dual meets scheduled for this fall.