STANFORD, Calif. – No. 5 Stanford will aim to defend its conference title this week when it heads to Federal Way, Washington, to compete in the Pac-12 Conference Men's Swimming and Diving Championships.
The Cardinal (4-1, 3-1 Pac-12) wrapped up its regular season with a narrow defeat at top-ranked Cal on Feb. 18 after conference dual meet wins over Arizona State (Jan. 20), Arizona (Jan. 21) and Southern California (Feb. 4).
Five Pac-12 schools enter the meet ranked in the College Swimming Coaches Association of America's top-25, including Cal (1), Stanford (5), USC (13), Arizona State (t-15) and Arizona (t-15). The meet starts Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. PT with the swimming of the 200-yard medley relay and the 800-yard freestyle relay. From Thursday to Saturday, morning preliminary sessions start at 11 a.m. with the evening finals sessions taking place at 6 p.m.
| Date | Time (PT) | Event (All SCY) |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday, March 1 | 6:00 p.m. | 200 medley relay final, 800 free relay final |
| Thursday, March 2 | 11:00 a.m. | 500 free prelim, 200 IM prelim, 50 free prelim |
| Thursday, March 2 | 6:00 p.m. | 500 free final, 200 IM final, 50 free final, 200 free relay final |
| Friday, March 3 | 11:00 a.m. | 400 IM prelim, 100 fly prelim, 200 free prelim, 100 breast prelim, 100 back prelim |
| Friday, March 3 | 6:00 p.m. | 400 IM final, 100 fly final, 200 free final, 100 breast final, 100 back final, 400 medley relay final |
| Saturday, March 4 | 11:00 a.m. | 200 back prelim, 100 free prelim, 200 breast prelim, 200 fly prelim, 1,650 free (all but final heat) |
| Saturday, March 4 | 6:00 p.m. | 1,650 free (final heat), 200 back final, 100 free final, 200 breast final, 200 fly final, 400 free relay final |
Stanford enters the meet having already scored significant points courtesy of the Cardinal divers, who scored wins in the 1-meter springboard and platform championships.
Senior Bradley Christensen (375.90) defended his 1-meter title from 2016, while Tarek Abdelghany finished third and Cameron Thatcher took fourth. Abdelghany and Ted Miclau dueled until the final dive for the Platform championship, which Abdelghany won by less than one point – Miclau's final dive of 87.45 was the highest scored dive of the competition.
Divers Do the Job. ?? Stanford claims 2 of 3 @Pac12 diving titles at the conference championships. #GoStanford https://t.co/TCeYhP0kyE
— Stanford Swimming (@stanfordmswim) February 25, 2017
Live streaming of all sessions from the King County Aquatic Center will be available throughout the week at Pac-12.com/now, and the final session of the meet on Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. PT will air live on Pac-12 Networks following the 1,650-yard freestyle at 6 p.m. Live results will also be available at GoStanford.com.
Last season, individual titles from Christensen, Liam Egan and Sam Perry and an all-around team effort propelled Stanford to its first Pac-12 Conference championship since the 2011-12 season.
The win was the 63rd such title in program history. The Cardinal earned top-three finishes in 12 of 18 individual events, winning three, and had a podium finish in each of the three diving events.
It was @stanfordmswim capturing #Pac12Swim title #32 last year.
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) February 27, 2017
Who will do it in 2017? https://t.co/64wZ3ThoSn
Perry won two individual events, the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle. Egan finished second in the 500-yard freestyle before winning the 1,650-yard freestyle on the final day, essentially clinching the trophy for Stanford. The Cardinal dominated the individual medleys, taking three of the top four spots in the 200-yard IM and four of the top seven in the 400-yard IM.
Following the Pac-12 Swimming and Diving Championships, Stanford's divers will compete in the NCAA Zone E Championships March 5-7, which will decide which divers will compete at the NCAA Championships. The NCAA Championships take place March 23-25 in Indianapolis.