The Schaal Aquatics Center was buzzing with excitement with three new pool records set on Saturday.
The Aggies narrowly missed beating San Jose State on Saturday, but came back on Sunday to conquer both Seattle and Loyola Marymount.
Freshman Liliana Alvarez set the pool record for the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:02.79 and senior Heidi Kucera set the pool record for the 200 breaststroke.
Alternating back and forth with winning events, San Jose State and UC Davis had a close meet. The Aggies lost 144-156.
“It’s very nerve-racking as a coach to watch an event be that close,” coach Barbara Jahn said. “Any point here or there could make a huge difference. This is the closest matchup we’ve had with San Jose State in terms of points. We were up against a worthy opponent and we challenged them.”
After the battle with the Spartans, the Aggies jumped back in the pool on Sunday ready for the fresh competition.
Even with the rain, the Aggies won 12 of the 14 scored events, beating the Lions and Redhawks easily.
It was a challenge battling the rain,” Jahn said. “We also swam in events that we have never done before, but we still came back and swam well that second day.”
Senior Linda Hermann, freshman Megan Leung and Alvarez each won two individual events at the meet. Ashley Chandler, Kayleigh Foley, Joann Liang, Madeline Talt and Kucera also came out with individual wins.
Jahn attributes some of the team’s initial success to their modified weight-training workouts and new recruits that add to the quality of the team.
“We’re ahead of the game if you compare our times from last year,” Jahn said. “We’re definitely going in the right direction.”
Jahn encourages Aggie fans to come out for UC Davis’ last home meet of the fall season this Saturday against Fresno State. First race is set for 1 p.m.
CALEIGH GUOYNES can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.
