SANTA BARBARA, Calif.  – Today, the  UC Santa Barbara Swim teams kicked off the first meet of their 2025-2026 season.  After the first day of this weekend's opener, the UCSB Women's team holds a lead over their opponents with a score through 25 events of: UCSB 865, UOP 543, and Seattle 375. The men's score board reads : Stanford with 800 points, UCSB with 479.5 points, UOP with 360.5 points, and Seattle U with 305 points heading into Saturday's final events.
 
The Gauchos' dominance through day one was highlighted by the women's team taking home first place in all but two of the events for our swimmers. The Gauchos set the tone early, sweeping all top six places in the 200 IM. Then the next race, the Gauchos took eight of ten top place finishes in the 50 freestyle.
 
The Gauchos, despite no first place finishes were able to secure second place on the day behind Stanford. UC Santa Barbara Sophomore Elek Zettle finished second in the 200 Freestyle, which was the highest finish of the day on the men's side, with a time of 1:39.51. Zettle led the Gauchos to take three of the top six places in this event, along with Mason Wendler and Lucas Hubbard.
 
The Blue and Gold had some newcomers get off to a very hot start to the season. Watch for early contributors to keep it up heading into Saturday. Freshman Lelia Symington got into the win column after her first collegiate individual event today. Event 5, Women's 500 freestyle, with a time of 5:07.78, the freshman led the pack of Gauchos in this event that took home the first handful of places.
 
Look at Tomorrow
The Gauchos get back out there tomorrow morning at 10 am. The Women's team looks to hold the lead through the end of our opening weekend and the Men's team are looking to make a push tomorrow morning.