Swim team set for annual meet with Wisconsin


By
 in ,

The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams are already ranked nationally and are looking to continue their success in Tuesday’s meet against Wisconsin that will begin at 12:30 p.m. in the Uytengsu Aquatic Center.

The Women of Troy (5-1) are heading into their season ranked No. 4 nationally. They are currently 5-1 and will be facing a No. 16 ranked Wisconsin.

The No. 17 ranked men’s team (5-1) will also face stiff competition in a Wisconsin squad that is ranked No. 15. Both Wisconsin teams are 2-1 overall but competed against the Trojans in last month’s Texas Invitational. USC will be facing Wisconsin for the fifth year in a row.

The Women of Troy have been undefeated against Wisconsin in the past five years, and the men are 3-1 after Wisconsin handed them their first loss of the season a year ago.

The men’s team won their first conference title since 1979 last season finishing with a record of 6-2 overall and 4-1 in conference meets. The women’s team finished third in the Pac-12 but had a strong showing at the NCAA championship, finishing eighth. The Women of Troy are one of only four schools to finish in the top eight of the NCAA in each of the last six years.

The men’s team will return four All-Americans and the women will return five All-Americans led by captain Kendyl Stewart.

The Women of Troy are already heating up the national rankings in specific events as well, having met ‘A’ time qualifications for the 200y, 400y and 800y free relays as well as the 400y medley relay.

Junior Chelsea Chenault is leading USC in three events: the 200y and 500y free and the 200y fly. Her times in these events are also on the national board in the ‘B’ range. Her other ‘B’ time comes in the 100y free.

The men are led by junior Reed Malone who owns a ‘B’ time in both the 200y and 500y free.

Both teams are led by head coach Dave Salo who is entering his tenth season as the head of the swimming program. Salo has over 30 years of collegiate, club and national coaching experience and was elected into the American Swimming Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2010.

The diving team is led by coach Hongping Li who is in his 17th season at the helm of the USC program. Li himself is an NCAA champion and two-time Olympian but has seen significant success coaching as well. Li has twice been named NCAA Coach of the Year and has received Pac-12 Women’s Coach of the Year 11 times.

Both teams will compete in the Bruin Diving Invitational over the weekend before starting off Pac-12 competition with swim and dive meets against Cal on Jan. 29 for the women and Feb. 5 for the men.