The final dual meet of the season for the Arizona swimming and diving team against ASU proved to be a good end to the season homestand at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center. The Arizona women won 165-126, and the men's team beat the Sun Devils, 172-118.
The diving team had luck in the well this weekend with junior John Collier winning the 3-meter and defeating last year's NCAA champion Joona Puhakka. Collier also took second in the 1m while senior Claire Febvay took first in the 1m and second in 3m.
"It feels great, I was in shock because I did not think that I did it," Collier said about his 3m performance.
Arizona head coach Frank Busch said the swimmers did great this weekend and that they have some rest ahead of them.
"Over the next weeks we are going to rest, sharpen people up and work on speed," Busch said.
According to Busch some of the best performances this weekend came from junior Marshi Smith and freshman Matt Biel.
Smith took first place in the 200-yard backstroke with a season-best time of 2:00.92. Smith also is part of the relay team made up of Courtney Cashion, Jessica Hayes and Lacey Nymeyer that finished first in the 200y freestyle relay with a time of 1:34.14.
Another notable performance came from Biel who took first place in the 1000 freestyle with a personal-best of 9:10.67, light-years ahead of the second place time of 9:41.48.
The team acquired 21 first places out of 32 events, making the last home meet of the season a successful one.
As for the rest of the year, the expectations are high.
"Now the girls are looking for a win in Pac-10 competition and for success at the NCAA championships," said Smith.
"The guys are looking to step it up, for people to get good cuts, and to get a good showing at the NCAA Championships," Biel said.
The Wildcat women will be swimming again in Seattle Feb. 23 and the men in Long Beach, Calif., March 2 -5 for the Pacific 10 Championships.