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UA swim teams travel to Bay Area

The second-ranked women and No. 3 men on Arizona's swimming and diving teams travel to the Bay Area for the teams' second Pacific 10 Conference match-up.

The teams will travel to Berkeley tomorrow to take on the fifth-ranked California Golden Bears at the Spieker Aquatics Complex. The Wildcats then travel to Palo Alto Saturday to compete against the Stanford Cardinal, who's men's team is fifth in the country and the women's team is ranked third.

"Both of our opponents are very talented and they will both be a tough test for our team," UA head coach Frank Busch said. "It should be a good test, especially for our girls team because they are coming off a tough loss to Georgia."

The UA women (6-1 overall 1-0 Pac-10) will be looking to prove their No. 2 ranking to California and Stanford, after suffering a demoralizing loss to top-ranked Georgia.

"Being that we were undefeated before the Georgia meet, our team appreciated and became accustomed to winning," Wildcat freshman Amanda Beard said. "After a tough loss, it makes winning more special and it should help us swim even harder this weekend".

The California women's team (5-0) is entering its first Pac-10 matchup and is looking to improve on its 12-4 all time record against UA. Stanford currently has a record of 1-0 in dual meets.

The UA men's team (4-0, 1-0) is coming off a dominating victory over ninth-ranked Michigan. The team looks to continue its dominance in the Bay Area.

The men's team will be led by 1999 NCAA Swimmer of the Year, senior Ryk Neethling.

The California Bears(3-1) are looking to start their Pac-10 season with a bang by upsetting the Wildcats.

One race that will catch the eyes of the spectators is in the 50- and 100-meter freestyle, where UA junior Coley Stickels will race against Cal senior Bart Kizierowski.

Both swimmers' times are mirror images of each others.

The Stanford men's team (2-3) is coming off a loss to Michigan, a team that Arizona dominated in the team's last competition.

"After losing to Michigan, Stanford is going to be hungry for a victory," UA sophomore swimmer Jay Schryver said. "It is going to make our job a lot harder because they are going to be filled with a lot of desire to win and overcome their recent defeat."

Stanford has won 18 straight Pac-10 titles, and Arizona is going to be the first contender the Cardinal face as is looks for its nineteenth.

"We have everything it takes," said Schryver. "We have the sprinters and the long distance swimmers. And for the first time since in a while, we have the depth."