Swimming teams host championship-style meet

Arizona Daily Wildcat Laurie Kline

The Wildcats, coming off a pair of road losses to Stanford and California last weekend, host Washington and Texas' men and women's teams.

Today's session, which begins at 2 p.m., will be similar to the first day of the NCAA Championships, with one men and women's timed final in each event.

Saturday's action is broken up into two sessions, with each beginning at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. These two sessions mirror the second and third days of the NCAAs, again with one timed final for each event.

The main competition over the weekend should be the women's battle between fifth-ranked Arizona and No. 12 Texas.

"Texas will test our women for sure. They have a good women's team," UA head coach Frank Busch said. "They're one of the best teams in the country, and have been for the past few years."

Texas (2-4 in dual meets) is led by Tammie Spatz and Darby Chang, a pair of seniors with impressive credentials. Spatz is a thirteen-time All-American and three-time NCAA participant. Chang has been named an All-American ten times during her Longhorn career.

The Wildcats hope to counter the pair's dominance with Laurie Kline. The senior has gathered a quiet nine-race unbeaten streak, spanning the entire season. A runner-up in last season's NCAA 1,650 freestyle, Kline currently has the fastest 500 free time in the nation.

The Longhorns also have two NCAA diving champions, Vera Ilyina and Laura Wilkinson.

Meanwhile, Pacific 10 Conference foe Washington remains a mystery to Arizona.

The two schools have only met in the Pac-10 Championships, never in a dual meet situation. Both Huskies' squads are unranked.

"I think we're a little bit better than them, but I'm looking forward to swimming against another Pac-10 team that we haven't seen," Busch said.

For the men, sophomore co-captain Ryk Neethling has an eleven-race unbeaten streak in the distance events. His times in the 500 and 1,000 free are also the nation's best.