It may not be the time of year to head west to the California beaches, but the Arizona men's and women's swim and dive teams still had a reason to hit the water, with the women sweeping a weekend set with Southern California and UCLA and the men falling to the Trojans Friday.
The men's team fell to No. 2 USC, 182-170, while the women's team defeated the Women of Troy, 186-113, before dropping UCLA by a slim margin, 149-148.
"These meets have given me a chance to see where we are as a team," UA head coach Frank Busch said. "Realistically, now we know what we have to work with as a team. We are just trying to focus on now making standards and getting people qualified for the NCAA Championships."
Although the men's team fell to USC, Busch said he was pleased with some of his athletes' efforts, noting that the top four Arizona performances came from Lyndon Ferns, Simon Burnett, Ivan Barnes and Nick Thoman.
"This is the absolute best men's team we have ever had at Arizona, off the charts as to any team in the past," Busch said. "USC is just a very good team. We just came up short in a few places."
One of the places that the men fell short, Busch said, was a relay disqualification. Despite that, notable swims came from Burnett and Ferns who took first and second in the 200-yard freestyle, respectively. The relay team of Ferns, Jonas Perrson, Adam Ritter, and Burnett also took first in the 400 free relay team with a time of 2:56.73.
On the women's side, Busch said that Lacey Nymeyer, Jena Grisdol Erin Sieper and Marshi Smith continued to impress over both days.
Against USC, the women won 11 of 16 events. Emily Mason took won both distance freestyle events with first-place finishes in 1000 and 500. Sieper took first in both the 100 breaststroke and 200 backstroke. Grisdol took first place in 100 backstroke and 50 free, while Nymeyer took first in the 100 free.
Against UCLA, Busch said the most crucial race was a final relay race.
The meet was also tight because of disqualifications for two Arizona swimmers in the 1000 free and there were timing difficulties in the 200 breaststroke. In the end however, Arizona prevailed with impressive showings, winning eight of 14 events. Nymeyer finished first in both the 200 free and 50 free. Jena Gresdal took first in 100 back. The clincher for the women was the relay team of Nymeyer, Ryann Hackett, Mason and Kathryn Elofson, who won the 200 free relay team and the meet with a time of 1:35.20.
Both the Wildcat men and women will be in the pool again for the Texas Invitational Dec. 2-4.