Men’s swim and dive will race against UCSB, Hawaii and UCSD this weekend in the USC Invitational at the Uytengsu Aquatic Center.

The Trojans will compete in a multitude of events throughout the weekend, ranging from relays to individual medleys. 

Coming off a third place finish at last weekend’s SMU Invitational, several athletes are looking to build on or improve their performances.

Junior Artem Selin who placed first in the 100-yard free at SMU with a personal best of 43.04 is setting his ambitions even higher heading into this weekend’s competition.

“I would love to see 42 on the scoreboard,” Selin said.

Head Coach Peter Richardson believes the Trojans will see improvement through the fine tuning of smaller details like stroke counts, turns and breath discipline.

The team has also begun the process of tapering down endurance training to focus on pace.

“This week we’ve been working more on getting some speed stuff,” said junior Chris O’Grady. “Less cardio, more just like explosiveness, so hopefully it pans out well for us.”

O’Grady, who was named Swimmer of the Meet last weekend, hopes to repeat his success, this time in a more familiar environment. 

While the Trojans will play host to several dual meets early next year, this weekend’s event is the only invitational the team will compete in at home. 

Students looking to cheer the Trojans on to victory are encouraged to show out for the upcoming races.

“Of course it’s going to help if many people show up and support our guys,” Selin said.

And if that wasn’t convincing enough, “come watch nearly naked individuals beat down on some other California teams” laughed O’Grady.

Unlike the format of last weekend’s meet which sent only eight swimmers and one diver to Texas, the USC Invitational will be the first opportunity this season to see the whole team in action.

While Richardson noted that the nine athletes representing the men’s team at SMU had an “electric” performance, he’s excited to see the rest of the team start their season.

“Can we do it when we’ve got everybody? And how loud can we be?” Richardson said.

The Trojan’s will face some tough competition this weekend, but Richardson is confident in the team’s capabilities.

“We’re locked and loaded,” he said. “The scoreboard, it’s important, it’s Division I athletics, but it’s far more important for us to get the details right because that’s what’s going to pay off at the end of the season.”

The invite will feature several events like the 500-yard free and 100-yard back which the team competed in last week. 

Freshman Krzysztof Chmielewski currently holds the top time amongst his competitors in the longer distance swim after winning the 500-yard free at SMU by four seconds, touching the wall in 4:15.18. The upcoming races will offer him the chance to recreate last weekend’s magic and tally points for the Trojans at home. 

The second half of USC’s dynamic Polish duo, freshman Michal Chmielewski, will compete in the 100-yard back alongside senior Vaggelis Makrygiannis. The two swimmers will return to the pool for the event after placing eighth and fifth last week.

The first session of the USC Invitational will begin at 1 p.m. on Friday with the second taking place at 9:30 a.m. on Oct. 14. Trojans wanting to support the team can attend the sessions at USC’s Uytengsu Aquatic Center or tune into the Pac-12 Network’s live stream of events.