After making history two weeks ago, the No. 1 Arizona men’s swimming team heads to Tempe tomorrow in search of making more history. A win over the Sun Devils (4-5) would put the team at 9-0 and mark the first time in program history the team would finish the season undefeated in dual meets.
“”Everyone just needs to try and make sure that they’re on top of their game,”” said UA head coach Frank Busch. “”It’s always fun for us (to race ASU), and fortunately, our program is a little bit better than theirs right now.””
After blowing all of their competitors out of the water so far this season, the team still knows that they are far from where they want to be. The meet against ASU will be the team’s last tune-up before the Pacific 10 Conference Championships and there is still a lot of room for improvements on little things like starts and turns.
“”We have a lot of pride in our program and that’s why it continues to grow and why we’re in the position it is now,”” Busch said. “”It’s not about dual meets, it’s all about the end of the year performance.””
The No. 4 women’s team (9-1) will also go up against ASU (10-2) tomorrow. After losing three weeks ago to No. 2 Stanford, the women’s squad looks to rebound with a solid meet against its rivals.
Both teams are beaten down physically after coming off a rigorous six months of training, so a quality performance should only bode well for what each team can accomplish when fully rested.
One obstacle that could hinder Arizona’s chances of beating ASU is a case of the “”McKale crud”” that has been circulating through both squads.
Busch said at least half of the team came down with some sort of cold at some point recently, but doesn’t expect it to affect the team’s performance.
Into the diving well
Both diving squads will also be in action tomorrow and both competitions should be hotly contested, said UA dive coach Michelle Mitchell.
“”Road trips always offer challenges that diving or swimming at home do not,”” Mitchell said. “”We’ve got to put our game face on and roll out there and do well, and that’s always harder to do at
another facility.””
On the women’s side both teams are very evenly matched so the outcome could go in favor of either team, Mitchell said. The ASU men have a very strong team, Mitchell said, but the UA men should put up a good fight as long as they keep close to ASU’s big gun, junior diver Michele “”Micky”” Benedetti.
Benedetti finished third last year in the NCAA championships and will prove to be a big test for the UA men’s team seeing as how talented he is, Mitchell added.
“”I have confidence that our guys can step it up and hold their own and dive as they have been all year,”” Mitchell said. “”Who knows how it will turnout. Even big guns can falter.””
