With the rigors of the winter break practice sessions coming to an end, the Wildcat swimmers broke up their draining training sessions with a set of meets, winning both.

“”We did tough (two-a-days) with running and swimming in the morning and lifting and swimming in the afternoon,”” said veteran Taylor Baughman. “”We’re definitely broken down now, but it’s a great place to be at.””

Despite their exhaustive training regiment, the women defeated NAU, Oregon State, Washington and the Colorado School of Mines – yes, they have a swim team – while the men beat Washington, Air Force and CSM.

Among the highlights were the returns of All-Americans Nicolas Nilo and teammate Joel Greenshields. Both had taken a semester off from school after fulfilling their Olympic commitments, a rest head coach Frank Busch said was much needed.

“”When you make the commitment to the Olympics you’re gone a long time,”” Busch said. “”You don’t see your family much. It’s really difficult; I was gone myself for 52 days. (Them taking time off) was OK by me.””

Nilo jumped right back into winning form by taking first place in both the 100-yard and 200y freestyles in the NAU meet. Jean Basson, Greenshields and Tyler Svendsen finished behind Nilo in the 200y event.

Meanwhile, junior Jack Brown had an impressive win in the 200y individual medley, topping the next opponent by four seconds.

Also showing well was Marcus Titus, who won the 100y breaststroke and the 200y medley relay with Bryan O’Connor. Adam Small and Jordan Smith filled in the other legs.

The women fared just as well, taking first and second in the 200y medley relay. Ana Agy continued her strong season by winning the 100y backstroke and 100y butterfly. Other multiple-event winners included Alyssa Anderson and Julie Stupp.

In diving, Ainsley Oliver placed second in both the 1-meter and 3m events, but lost each competition by four and five points, respectively. Andres Guerra won the 1m and teammate Craig Sheedy placed second. The pair then switched finishing positions in the 3m.

In the final competition before the spring semester, both squads came out on top of West Virginia. In the meet against the Mountaineers, Busch eased the drudgery of the long break by creating peculiar races including the 50y backstroke, 50y breaststroke and multiple 150y events.

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here the kids are pretty tired, changing things up will spark them a little bit,”” Busch said. “”You need to put a little bit into their step. It’s just trying to accomplish something when they’re beat, and right now they’re pretty beat.””

In the 50y backstroke, Ivan Tolic led the field in a time of 23.79 and was followed by the freshman trio of Adam Small, Jordan Slaughter and Pete Stacy.

Freshman Nick Hadinger had a coming out party as well, scoring in first place in the 100y freestyle and then finishing behind veteran Jake Tapp and Small in the 50y freestyle. Tapp touched the wall in 21.01 and also won the 150y backstroke in 1:18.61.

In the 200y individual medley, Carly Beaudreau was victorious for the women in a time of 2:04.27 and Nicolas Nilo continued his winning ways on the men’s side. Nilo also won the 50y butterfly against West Virginia in a time of 22.49.

The women’s 50y butterfly – led by Pacific 10 Conference Swimmer of the Month for December, Lara Jackson- was dominated by the Wildcat women as they took the top-six times over four Mountaineer swimmers. In the 50y freestyle, Lindsey Kelly, Justine Schluntz and Leone Vorster swept the top three positions.

In diving, Ben Grado and Ainsley Oliver swept the 1m and 3m events against the Mountaineers.

Arizona’s upcoming dual meets are a “”little different ballgame,”” according to Busch.

The Wildcats face talented Pac-10 opponents in Stanford and California on Jan. 23 and 24, respectively.