The Stanford women’s swimming and diving team started its winter season off with a big home win against Pacific on Saturday, beating the Tigers by a final score of 154-97. The team’s dual meet record now stands at 4-0 as it looks to go undefeated in dual meets for the second consecutive season. Stanford has lost only one dual meet since 2006, going 31-1 in that span.
As expected, the Cardinal was able to dominate Pacific despite lingering fatigue from holiday training, sweeping all 16 events. The Tigers put up little resistance, placing no higher than fourth in 10 events.
Strong performances from senior co-captain Elaine Breeden, junior Liz Smith and sophomore Betsy Webb headlined the Cardinal’s win. Each swimmer notched three wins in the meet, including relay events.
The trio and junior co-captain Kate Dwelley started the day by winning the 200-yard medley relay, posting a time of 1 minute, 43.61 seconds. Other Cardinal relay teams came in second, third, fourth and sixth.
Breeden went on to win the 200 butterfly and the 200 individual medley, posting times of 2:01.24 and 2:05.89, respectively. She won both events by four-second margins.
Webb won the 50 freestyle in 23.23, and Smith took the 500 free in 4:44.29. These two, Dwelley and sophomore Sam Woodward won the day’s final event, the 200 free relay, with a B-standard time of 1:33.29.
Senior co-captain Julia Smit, who broke two world records in England over winter break, also turned in a strong performance. She posted B-standard times in the 100 backstroke and the 100 free, going 55.07 and 48.97, respectively.
The Stanford freshmen were also impressive — freshmen Andi Murez and Natalie Durant each won events. Murez took the 200 free in 1:51.41, and Durant won the 200 backstroke in 2:02.84. Other freshmen swimmers placed well in numerous events and were key parts of Cardinal relay teams.
Despite this strong showing, there is still a need for improvement for these swimmers.
“The freshmen can step it up and contribute to the team more, including myself,” said freshman Megan Fischer-Colbrie, who placed second in the 100 backstroke and third in the 200 back. “We can do a better job helping the team score points.”
Other winners for the Card were juniors Angela Duckworth (1,000 free) and Kerry Kraemer (100 breast), sophomore Jamie Bruce (200 breast) and senior Stefanie Sutton (100 fly).
Stanford’s diving team also won its two events, the one-meter and three-meter platform.
In the end, the meet was little more than a warm-up for the Cardinal as it heads into Pacific-10 Conference competition. Next weekend, the diving team will head south to the Bruin Diving Invitational in Westwood, Calif., and the Card will duel Arizona State and No. 2 Arizona in two dual meets on Jan. 22 and Jan. 23.
“[The meet] was like a dress rehearsal for the bigger meets to come,” Fischer-Colbrie said. “Right now, it’s not about the team’s end result, but more about making sure we’re doing the right things to race well.”