The Utah women’s swim team stood toe-to-toe with star-filled No. 4 California on Friday, but it couldn’t come away with a victory, dropping the meet, 187.5–109.5.
“Overall, I’m pleased,” said head coach Joe Dykstra. “We’re in a really heavy phase of training, so the girls are really beat up, as is the Cal team. So I’m excited that we were able to go toe-to-toe and really race a competitive meet against a team that’s not just one of the best in the Pac-12 but one that really has a chance to win NCAAs.”
The stars were out for Cal, as four-time Olympic gold medalist Missy Franklin took home victories in the 200-yard and 500-yard freestyle.
Even with one of the most decorated athletes from the London Olympics on deck, Dykstra didn’t think his girls were intimidated.
“They can’t be star-struck. If you’re star-struck by these people then you’d be sitting in the stands,” he said. “We’re not here to participate — we are here to compete. I said that earlier this morning, and I’ll say it anytime we go up against top flight competition.”
Utah had their own stars of the meet, and Stina Colleou shined brightest. Colleou won the 100-yard breastsroke with a time of 1.03:71 while also touching first in the 200-yard breaststroke, stopping the clock at 2:17.97.
Colleou was happy with how the team performed considering they are in the midst of a difficult training schedule. She credited the team’s positive energy in helping her with her races.
“When I did my [100-breast], the only thing I could think of during the last 25 [yards] was going fast for my team,” she said. “I wanted to win because of my team, and they were all cheering for me and believing in me, and I wanted to give them something in return.”
Other top Utah performances included Petra Soininen’s victory in the 200-butterfly and Giuliana Gigliotti’s first place tie in the 100-freestyle race.
Dykstra said his team was getting better as far as the technical side of swimming goes, but the team still isn’t where they need to be for meets later on in the season. He said Colleou abandoned her race strategy because she told him, ‘We really needed to win a race.’
“That’s the kind of fight I want to see,” he said. “We just needed to win a race, so she went out and did it.”
After the meet, a number of Utah fans lined up on deck to get autographs from Franklin and the entire Cal team. Dykstra said he wasn’t upset about it and is happy to see the sport growing.
“I think it’s the greatest possible thing for our sport,” he said. “It’s gaining popularity in the Mountain West region.”
 
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