After dropping to No. 7 earlier this month, the Cal women’s swimming team is back to a No. 2 ranking in time for the most important stretch of the season.
In the last few weeks, the top five has been experiencing some shifts. In Cal’s final dual meet against No. 4 Stanford last weekend, Cal edged the Cardinal by a close margin of 10 points on Feb. 16. Two weeks earlier, the Cardinal defeated No. 1 USC.
Though rank has no effect on NCAA championship eligibility, the Bears’ change in rank perhaps indicates the voters’ trust in the two-time NCAA champions’ ability to swim competitively within the Pac-12 and in the NCAA Championships.
The Bears will kick off the four-day Pac-12 Championships in Federal Way, Wash., on Wednesday night. In addition to USC and Stanford, Cal will race three other top-25 teams.
With the key stretch of its season under way, Cal is focused on improving its racing by picking up the pace in practices.
“We’ve been working on just getting sharper and getting ready for racing,” Cal assistant coach Kristen Cunnane said. “We’ve been concentrating on swimming at race speed and sprinting turning (and) starting instead of more cardio-paced speed.”
In addition to focusing on sprints and racing techniques during practices, the Bears will showcase their depth, exhibited specifically against Stanford, in the Pac-12s. Complementing star swimmers Caitlin Leverenz, Rachel Bootsma and Cindy Tran were junior Stephanie Au and freshmen Kelly Naze and Rachael Acker.
Coming off its last win against the Cardinal, Cal (7-2) will defend its Pac-12 title against some of its toughest competitors from the dual meets. Cal will compete against USC and No. 6 Arizona, which both defeated the Bears, again during Pac-12s.
Cal’s depth and speed were not evident in the first dual meet of the season, a 168.5-112.5 loss to Arizona. A week later, the Bears had a close 10-point loss to No. 1 USC.
As the 2008 NCAA champion, Arizona is consistently a strong competitor despite currently hovering outside the top-five rankings. Arizona’s five-time All-American Ellyn Baumgardner has the third-fastest NCAA time in the 100 breast. Junior Margo Geer also holds the fastest time for the 50 free in the NCAA this season.
The Trojans have not fallen from their top ranking in the NCAAs. USC’s Haley Anderson, the first American to medal in the marathon swim in the Olympics, will likely dominate the longer-distance events.
The Pac-12 Championships is the last time this season that the Bears will race as a full team, because competing in the NCAAs is contingent on qualifying times. Pac-12s are also the last opportunity for Cal players to reach NCAA-caliber times.
Cal, however, is still not making winning Pac-12 its top priority. The Bears are just focused on constantly improving until the NCAAs.
“Our goal as a team is to go to the Pac-12 meet and perform our best whether we win or not — we just walk away knowing we did our best,” Cunnane said.
Jessica Lim covers women’s swim. Contact her at [email protected].