The state of California hasn’t been kind to the UA women’s swim and dive team this year.
Just over a month after being swept by Stanford and Cal in the Bay Area, UA finished in fourth place at the Pacific 10 Conference Championships in Long Beach, Calif., over the weekend.
Arizona finished with 1,223.5 points, while Stanford — the No. 1 team in the nation — won the Pac-10 with a score of 1,489. Finishing second and third were California and USC, respectively.
“”It’s not about wins and losses,”” said coach Frank Busch. “”The time scores are what are important to us at this point.””
This trip to California started off promisingly with the UA tying for first place after the first day of competition. The team won the first event of the championships, the 200-yard medley relay, the only ‘A’ heats they were able to win.
The Wildcats’ 200y medley relay team, featuring seniors Ana Agy, Justine Schluntz, Annie Chandler and junior Emma Darlington, finished with a time of 1:38.44.
But the team only captured two wins after the opening relay win, both coming from sophomore Alyssa Anderson. She won the ‘B’ heat final of the 500y freestyle with a time of 4:42.13, as well as the ‘B’ heat of the 400y individual medley with a time of 4:12.90.
Like Anderson, other UA swimmers found success in the ‘B’ heats.
Senior Jenny Forster finished as the runner-up to Anderson in the 400y with a time of 4:14.04. Forster also placed second in the ‘B’ heat of the 200y individual medley.
Agy placed third in both the 100y and 200y backstroke — an event in which the UA will be a favorite at the NCAA championships with as many as three swimmers in the final heat.
The best individual event for the UA was the 100y breaststroke, as the team had three of the top seven finishers, led by Chandler who placed third with a time of 1:00.59.
“”We had some impressive efforts in the finals,”” Chandler said.
In the relays, the UA had only one victory in the 200y medley, but they were still able to get some solid finishes. They had relay teams finish third in both the 400y medley and the 200y freestyle.
“”This is a very optimistic group of girls, so we will be fine,”” Chandler said.
Now with the Pac-10s behind them, the Wildcats will turn their full attention to the NCAA championships. The main preparation tactic for the team will be rest.
“”We will get back to Tucson and recover from Pac-10s and just work on the details to make our swimming sharp,”” Agy said.
Despite the disappointing finish at the Pac-10, the swimmers are as confident as ever about their national championship hopes.
“”We will be ready to race and have a good time,”” Agy said.
