Arizona’s lead in the Pacific 10 Conference Championships meet was short-lived when they fell to third place on Thursday in Long Beach, Calif. The Wildcats have 216 points, second-place California has earned 260 while Stanford leads overall with 328.5 points.

Distance specialist Jean Basson cruised to a victory in the 500-yard freestyle to start Thursday’s action as he finished in a time of 4:12.99. The next closest competitor was Washington’s Scott Spansail who touched the wall in 4:15 flat.

“”We won’t get any better than third in this meet. … I could have told you that,”” said UA head coach Frank Busch, adding, “”We’re swimming very, very well.””

Finishing behind three Cardinals and one Golden Bear, junior Jack Brown placed fifth in the 200y individual medley, two spots in front of teammate Bryan O’Connor. Although Brown’s time of 1:45.38 was more than two seconds faster than his similar fifth-place finish last year, the time improvement shows this Pac-10 meet’s speed.

More of that speed became apparent in the 50y freestyle where last year’s winning time of 19.30 seconds was eclipsed by four competitors. Arizona’s Jordan Smith was the top Wildcat in the event, finishing seventh in 19.46 seconds.

California’s Nathan Adrian set a Pac-10 record of 18.82, closing in on the NCAA record of 18.47.

When compared to last year, the drastic time cuts are due to the new technology of the full-body swimsuits, Busch said.

And despite Arizona falling behind, Busch’s outlook remained positive for the upcoming days.

“”We’re not done with this meet yet,”” he said. “”The kids are doing great.””