Avery Aquatic Center will play host to a doubleheader of dual meets this weekend when Arizona and Arizona State visit the farm to do battle with Stanford’s pair of undefeated teams.
The No. 11 men’s team (3-0, 0-0 Pac-12) will open its conference season against No. 5 Arizona (1-2, 0-2) and Arizona State (1-3, 0-2), and the No. 2 women’s team (5-0, 2-0) will take to the pool for the first time in 2014 against No. 10 Arizona’s (4-1, 2-1) and Arizona State’s (2-4, 1-3) women as both Cardinal squads will aim to continue strong starts to their seasons.
Last season, the men’s team defeated both Arizona State and Arizona on the road — the latter of which was a big upset victory for the Cardinal over the top-ranked Wildcats.
“Arizona has one of the most complete teams in the nation,” head coach Ted Knapp told GoStanford.com. “They have both quality and depth in almost all events, which also speaks well to their strength in relays. They also have a great diver that will match up well with our diving corps.”
The men have plenty of momentum to build on after they dismantled Pacific in their first dual meet of the season two weekends ago, a very strong showing in which they posted the fastest time in every event. Junior David Nolan was named the Philip Hunsaker Men’s Division I Swimmer of the Week for his efforts in the win, in which he collected two individual victories and contributed to two relay victories.
Meanwhile, the women have looked strong all season long but are coming off of a victory against Texas in which they struggled early before rebounding to win in the final event. The Cardinal is led by seniors Felicia Lee and Maya DiRado, who own the team’s fastest times in three events each, along with junior sprinter Maddy Schaefer, who is currently tied for the nation’s best time in the 50-yard freestyle with Wildcats senior Margo Geer. That race in this weekend’s event will pit two of the premier sprinters in the country against each other.
The coed meets against Arizona and Arizona State will take place on Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at noon, respectively, with the women going first in each event and alternating with the men.
Contact Do-Hyoung Park at dpark027 ‘at’ stanford.edu.