USC off to strong start after opening weekend


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The USC men’s and women’s swim and dive teams opened up the 2011 season with impressive victories.

The Women of Troy defeated Washington State 120-74 in Pullman, Wash., and the Trojans defeated CSU Bakersfield 150-101 at McDonald’s Swim Stadium.

Led by junior Christel Simms and sophomore Stina Gardell, the women’s team featured winners in eight separate events. Simms won the 100-yard freestyle and was a member of the winning 200-yard medley relay team.

Gardell took first in the 200-yard freestyle and the 200-yard backstroke.

Haley Anderson contributed to the USC victory, winning the 1,000-yard freestyle and the 500-yard freestyle.Meghan Hawthorne and Katka Hosszu who won the 200-yard IM and the 200-yard butterfly, respectively.

On the men’s side, the Trojans were winners in 11 events. With sophomore Vladimir Morozov leading the way with victories in the 100-yard breaststroke and 100-yard freestyle, USC did not have much trouble dealing with visiting CSU Bakersfield.

“It felt good,” Morizov said of the team’s effort. “We’re putting in a lot of work in the weight room and the pool, and it’s just the beginning of the season, but we’ve already been putting up fast times. It’s a good start to our season.”

Other winners for the Trojans included Julian Bonse in the 1,000-yard freestyle, Dimitri Colupaev in the 200-yard freestyle, Nick Karpov in the 100-yard backstroke and Chad Bobrosky in the 500-yard freestyle. The 400-yard medley team also took first place.

“It went really well,” assistant coach Jeremy Kipp said of the victory. “There’s been a lot of early season meets around the country from the SEC and some other Pac-12 schools and we wanted to put up times that were going to be comparable to the duel meets. I think we did that.”

Kipp also noted some specifics the Trojans excelled at.

“The freshmen looked pretty good,” he said. “They’ve seen the upperclassmen really compete and they have a better idea of what’s coming up in the next month or two months. All in all, there’s very few holes in the lineup.”

Both teams have a few weeks off until they get back in the pool for competitive action. The next swim meet for USC will not be until Nov. 4 when it hosts the USC Diving Invite. Teams expected to compete include conference foes from Arizona, Stanford and California.