NCAA title a stroke away for women's swim team
Throughout the season, swimming head coach Frank Busch has said the only focus for his squad is on working toward capturing a national title. That time is now upon Busch's team, as his March Madness is just around the corner.
Thursday, the women's swim team heads off to Athens, Ga., for the NCAA Championships with hopes of returning to Tucson with its first national crown.
The women enter the meet after posting a 10-1 dual-meet record, finishing fourth at the Pacific 10 Conference championships and boasting a No. 3 national ranking.
Busch said he likes his team's chances at winning the title, but realizes the task is physically demanding.
"To be successful, we have to swim all three days very hard, very often," he said. "Some of our swimmers will compete upwards of 14 times over a span of just three days. That is far more than what we have done in any other meet this season."
The Wildcats will be bringing 13 swimmers to the competition, of which three will be attempting to defend their individual titles.
In last year's meet at the University of Minnesota, then-sophomore Trina Jackson was victorious in the 1,650-yard freestyle and as a member of the 800 freestyle relay team. Then-sophomore Denali Knapp and freshman Lindsey Farella also recorded victories as team members in the 200 free relay and 400 free relay. Farella swam a leg on the winning 800 free relay, as well.
This season, the team enters with those past champions and a group of freshmen that look to have lofty aspirations for their futures. Arizona freshmen Erin Vogt, Sarah Tolar, Emily Mastin and Caroline Killian will be swimming in their first championships.
Mastin feels that going into a high caliber meet like the NCAAs without any experience has its advantages and disadvantages.
"It is scary that I have to go in against all these top swimmers not knowing how the meet works," she said. "But not knowing what to expect and going in with the intention of swimming harder than ever before can be really good."
She also said she would not be surprised to see her team win the national title this year.
"Our team has worked hard this entire year, and our dual meet record reflects it," Mastin said. "We are a team to look out for and people shouldn't be surprised if we end up on top."
The team does not leave for the meet until early next week, and in the meantime, Busch said the women will be working on finding the perfect balance between rest and practice.
"We want to prepare our girls for the meet, but don't want to overwork them to the point that they will enter next weekend tired," Busch said. "We are doing all the fine tuning, so that when we arrive in Athens, we can swim hard and leave as champions."
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