After a grueling four-day meet, the No. 6 Arizona men’s swimming and diving team came in fourth place at the Pacific 10 Conference championship at the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool in Long Beach, Calif.
Stanford University won its 30th consecutive conference championship with a final score of 911, which blew Arizona’s score of 483 out of the water.
Head coach Frank Busch wasn’t surprised and isn’t concerned.
“”Stanford shaved their guys, and they were rested, this is where they were going to shine,”” Busch said. “”They put a lot of emphasis on this meet and you can add up a lot of points when you have a rested team and two or three people in every final and consolation.
“”It doesn’t concern me that much, because last year Stanford won the conference again and we beat them at the NCAA’s,”” Busch added. “”We were third and they were fourth. It just depends on where your emphasis is, and ours is at the last meet.””
As for the other placements, California came in second place, while Southern California came in third. Trailing behind Arizona was its state rival, ASU, who came in fifth place.
Although the Wildcats didn’t outshine too many opponents, reigning NCAA 200-backstroke champion Cory Chitwood won his event, giving Arizona its only first-place finish in a championship heat.
Overall, the Wildcats placed where they thought they would and even qualified a few more swimmers for the NCAA Championships.
“”We were going to either be third or fourth,”” Busch said. “”We had a really good meet, we picked up a couple more guys. Now, we are taking 15 to the NCAA Championships. I really liked the way we swam under the circumstances, and I’m excited with what I think is going to be happening with these guys in the next couple of weeks.””
Now, both the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams are back at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center resting up for their respective big dances — the highly anticipated National Championships. The women’s team competes next week, while the men compete the following week.
As for diving, the Wildcats have their Zone E Diving Qualification Competition starting on Thursday in Minneapolis, Minn. Depending on their performances, they may or may not be accompanying the qualified swimmers to the NCAA’s.
