Swimming and diving eyes USC Invitational this weekend at home


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The USC men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams return to the pool today at noon as they host San Diego and Cal State Bakersfield for the USC Invitational.

The event, which will be held at McDonald’s Swim Stadium, will be the first meet of the year for the men’s side as it looks to build on an 11th-place performance in last year’s NCAAs.

Back for more - Senior captain Presley Bard helped lead the Women of Troy to a victory last weekend against Oregon State. USC will now face both San Diego and Cal State Bakersfield in the USC Invitational this weekend. - Tim Tran | Daily Trojan

The Women of Troy, meanwhile, are coming off a 141–112 victory over Oregon State last weekend. Senior co-captains Presley Bard and Lyndsay DePaul and junior Katinka Hosszu led the team to its first Pac-10 win of the season, but it was a duo of freshmen who continues to impress.

“Kasey Carlson and Meghan Hawthorne are outstanding athletes who really should help to put us over the top where we certainly should get a chance to be in the top four at the NCAAs,” USC coach Dave Salo said.

DePaul further emphasized the impact the freshmen have already had on this young season.

“Our freshman have been really impressive,” DePaul said. “We’re excited to see what they can do for the rest of the season.”

For the men, Salo believes the strength of their roster should propel the Trojans to victory.

“Bakersfield always has a handful of guys who are pretty good, but they don’t have the depth we have. We should be able to take them,” Salo said.

The men’s team returns sophomore Clement Lefert, the team’s top NCAA performer last season. Other veterans include All-Americans junior Patrick White and sophomore Nick Karpov as well as co-captains senior Emmett Walling and junior Jeff Daniels.

The squad is bolstered by incoming freshmen Chase Bloch, Jack Wagner, and Vladimir Morozov. All three are among the nation’s top newcomers.

Though today’s meet offers the Trojans an opportunity to test their skills against a live opponent, Salo said he views this as an opportunity to prepare for an important matchup later in the season.

“We try to focus a lot in the fall on our competition against Arizona. They’re really good at their starts and their first 15 meters of every race, so I keep harping on our athletes that we have to be better on our first 15 meters,” Salo said. “A lot of what we’re gearing towards is the Arizona competition in November. If we have a really super meet right there, it will really set the tone for the rest of the season.”