The No. 4 Arizona women swimmers jumped out to a fast start in Wednesday’s Pacific 10 Conference Championships in Federal Way, Wash., trailing California 120-116 after the first day of events.

“”We got a few sick people up here but we’re making the best out of a tough situation,”” said head coach Frank Busch. “”We’re still in good shape.””

The Wildcats blew the competition out of the water in the meet’s first event – the 200-yard medley relay. The ‘A’ team of Hailey DeGolia, Annie Chandler, Lara Jackson and Lindsey Kelly defeated California in a time of 1:36.53 to the Golden Bears’ 1:38.21.

In the meet’s second and final event, the 800y freestyle, Arizona came in fourth place with a team of Justine Schluntz, Alyssa Anderson, Leone Vorster and Taylor Baughman. Finishing in 7:10.58, the Wildcats and every other team was overshadowed by a dominating California performance.

The Bears finished with a new Pac-10 record of 6:56.87, a time that was greatly aided by Dana Vollmer’s 1:41.53 lead-off leg that was a piece of history as she now holds the American record in the 200y freestyle.

If Arizona’s standing sounds familiar, that’s because in last years Pac-10 championships, they won in 0.04 seconds slower than this year’s team. Arizona also took fourth in the 800y freestyle last year and, similarly, ended the first day with 116 points and in second place.

“”Tomorrow is the first individual races,”” Busch said of the days ahead. “”We’ll get a chance to settle into a meet routine and get after it.””