Swimmers win meets

By Katie Miles

Arizona Daily Wildcat

When Coach Frank Busch said this weekend's two dual meets would not be any trouble for the Wildcats, he was not just bragging.

The Arizona men's swimming team beat New Mexico State's men 129-89 Friday, while the UA women cruised past the NMSU women 110-73. Saturday, the UA men beat Loyola Marymount 106-72 and the women won 120-80. In other words, the Wildcats were almost completely dominating.

The No. 7 men's team and eighth-ranked women's team swept almost every race in the Loyola Marymount meet Saturday at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center.

"This was basically a fun weekend for the team. We had no pressure on us and we were able to let our swimmers try some different events," Busch said.

The team as a whole turned in a very impressive performance for the crowd. The Wildcats' experience made an impact on the outcome of the meet as they took the top three spots in almost every event. Arizona did not put its swimmers in their best events because Busch was fairly sure it wasn't going to be so much a tough meet as it was going to be a fun weekend.

"We let the kids who usually swam breaststroke, for example Ä because it is their

best event Ä try something else out," Busch said. "We wanted to let our swimmers concentrate on their third-best stroke instead of putting them into their first or second."

According to Busch, the Wildcats are focusing on the Pac-10 championships, which run Feb. 23-25. The Wildcats are excited because they are sending the largest team ever going into the NCAAs.

Loyola tried to break into the standings with a few swimmers who received thirds. The Wildcats denied Loyola the chance to break into first or second in any of the events. It was obvious that Arizona came into the meet with the intention of dominating the two meets in front of the hometown crowd.

The Wildcats came into the meet and captured firsts in every event from 100-meter butterfly to freestyle. To name a few, Oliver Lampey won the 100 free with a time of 47.24, Cesary Nadecki won the 100 backstroke with a time of 53.55, and Chad Carvin won the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:55.84.

While Arizona made its presence well-known to its competition, many individual Wildcats left an impression by blowing away the competition. In the 200 individual medley, Arizona's women swept it. The UA men was not going to be outdone by its female teammates. The men swept almost every event they entered.

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