The Arizona swim and dive teams compete in their first Pacific 10 Conference meet today, with both the men and women taking the pool against Southern California in Los Angeles. The women's squad will also take on UCLA tomorrow.
"Both schools always seem to swim well. With UCLA in the past its been back and forth with who has won, but we have won the last couple," UA head coach Frank Busch said.
"The competition is going to be interesting, it will be a good meet. Both schools always do a good job and seem to swim well. You just never know what to really expect, the team looks forward to the competition," Busch said.
On the men's side, USC has enjoyed a successful season so far. The Trojans' men's squad defeated Texas 240.5-112.5 in their last meet while the Trojan women didn't have the same luck, falling to the Longhorns, 230-123.
The men won seven of their eight events the first day and swept all the events the second day. USC's Ous Mellouli and Viktor Bodrogi were both double winners in the Texas meet, with Melloui taking the 200-yard freestyle and individual medley, and Bodrogi taking the 100-yard backstroke and 200-yard butterfly. On the women's side, freshman Emily Goetsch took the 200-yard butterfly, and Kalyn Keller won the 1,650-yard freestyle. Keller won the same event last year at the NCAA championships with Arizona's Emily Mason taking second place.
Busch said the same rings true for the UCLA women, as they always provide the Wildcats with good competition.
The Bruins' successes this season have included beating San Diego, UC Santa Barbara and Oregon State, while finishing fourth in the Purdue Invitational. Busch said UCLA has always provided the Wildcats with a tight meet.
"There is going to be tough competition, I just want to focus on racing and beating the person next to me. You can't think about the pressures," added freshman Lacey Nymeyer.