<p>The UCLA swimming and diving team kicks off competition at the annual Texas Invite in Austin, Texas at 8 a.m. today. A total of 13 teams will compete in the invite, which will last until Saturday.
<br/>The No. 14 Bruins will face stiff competition as they race against No. 1 Stanford, No. 6 Florida, No. 9 USC, No. 11 Texas, No. 18 Wisconsin and No. 24 Arizona State. UCLA coach Cyndi Gallagher is excited about the Bruins? opportunity to race against such high-caliber teams.
<br/>?Racing at the highest possible level will make us better,? Gallagher said. ?It?s going to be a fast meet, and that?s the best thing for our team right now.?
<br/>When facing numerous fast and experienced squads like they will in Texas, the Bruins know they must be careful not to be become overwhelmed.
<br/>?No matter who we?re swimming against, we just need to step up,? junior Nicolette Teo said. ?The biggest thing is just doing what we have to do.?
<br/>As usual, the Bruins will look to their experienced seniors, such as team captain Jeana Fuccillo, Katie Arnold and Katie Nelson, to lead the way. The team has been most successful when its leaders excel.
<br/>?We really feed off each other, so when one person does well, the rest of us will follow ? like a domino effect,? Teo said.
<br/>Gallagher admits her swimming squad has a lot of room for improvement. She believes this invite can be a key step in the team?s growth.
<br/>?We?re not as strong as we?ve been, but that doesn?t mean we won?t get stronger,? Gallagher said. ?It doesn?t matter where you?re at in the beginning of December, it matters where you?re at toward the end of February ? and as long as we keep moving forward, we?ll be fine.?
<br/>Like the swimming team, the diving team also hopes to keep improving. It is coming off an enormously successful Minnesota Diving Invite, in which the Bruins earned four top-three finishes.
<br/>?We?ve proven that we can do the dives,? senior Sara Clark said. ?We just need to do the same things we?ve been doing before.?
<br/>For swimmers and divers alike, improvement is key. The Texas Invite offers both teams a tremendous opportunity to compete against the nation?s elite teams ? the same teams the Bruins will face at the NCAA Championships in March.</p><br><br><a href='http://www.dailybruin.com/news/articles.asp?id=39171&#039; target='_blank'>http://www.dailybruin.com/news/articles.asp?id=39171&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br>