USC makes splash in swim debut

USC shook off the rust after a long holiday break to emerge victorious in several swimming and diving events last weekend.

Both the men’s and women’s swimming teams defeated Wisconsin on Saturday at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center to stay undefeated in dual meets. The men defeated the Badgers to improve to 3-0, while the women won 154-103 to move to 5-0 after beating Utah 119-91 on Friday.

“All teams had been off training for two weeks, so we had our most intense training when we got back to campus,” USC head coach Dave Salo said. “We did a nice job of coming off of a strong training session against a good team in Wisconsin.”

The No. 5-ranked Women of Troy started off strong with a victory in the 200-yard medley relay, starting a series of triumphs in the 200-yard freestyle, 500-yard freestyle, 1000-yard freestyle, 100-yard backstroke, 100-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke, 200-yard backstroke, 200-yard breaststroke and 200-yard butterfly.

“The women did a really solid job,” Salo said. “They’ve had the best relays in the country so far.”
Redshirt junior Haley Ishimatsu finished first in the 1-meter diving event and sophomore Natalie Kalibat took second.

The No. 6-ranked men’s team was equally dominant, as their top two 200-yard medley relay teams both finished before the Badgers’ first-string relay.

“All of our relays have qualified for the NCAA Championship,” Salo said. “And relays score so many points in meets, they’re so important.”

USC also had male individual swimmers take first place in the 50-yard freestyle, 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard backstroke, 100-yard breaststroke, 100-yard butterfly and 200-yard butterfly.
The men’s sophomore duo of Collin Pollard and Adam Payne took the top two podium spots in the 3-meter diving event to help clinch the victory.

“We don’t have a weak event,” Salo said. “To have a very competitive swimming/diving team, you have to have a great balance on both sides. We have very strong swimmers, and our divers have been performing at the top of the conference.”

The squad’s most accomplished divers were just as successful in their separate weekend competition, the Bruin Diving Invitational.

Pollard and Ishimatsu both swept the meet’s men’s and women’s platform events, respectively, with scores far better than their closest competitors.

Ishimatsu claimed the women’s event, while sophomore Sam Adams finished third.
Pollard won the 3-meter event and finished second in the 1-meter competition to top the men’s event.

“They did a really good job,” Salo said. “Their training facility at USC has been under construction, so we’ve had to ship them out to train at UCLA, the Rose Bowl, and even in Montreal for a 10-day period. They’ve done a really nice job of staying focused and have picked up some impressive wins.”

The women’s team gets a couple weeks off before returning to the pool on Friday, Jan. 31 at home against No. 1 California. The men return to action on Friday at the SMU Classic in Dallas, Texas.