STANFORD, Calif. – With sights set on a ninth national title, the synchronized swimming team kicks off the 2018 season Friday and Saturday by hosting Wheaton College at the Avery Aquatic Center.
It's the first of three home meets, followed by Incarnate Word on Feb. 16-17 and the Western Regionals on March 10.
The Cardinal finished a close second last season to Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio, and is using it as added motivation to peak for the Collegiate National Championships, March 28-31 in Oro Valley, Arizona.
"The girls have a little bit of extra fire in them," said head coach Sara Lowe. "They're pretty motivated and have something to prove."
After watching video of last year's championship multiple times to seek ways to improve, Lowe and assistant coach Megan Azebu increased the team's physical training during the fall and have focused on mental endurance. Both have enabled players to ramp up their programs.
"Our routines are fast and we've made some tweaks here and there," Lowe said. "We walked away thinking we could have done some things better and we want to show that."
Lowe is taking a more casual approach to the Wheaton meet, with the primary goal of testing the new routines of the A and B teams.
"We're really looking to see how they flow and how the crowd reacts," she said. "In the weeks to follow, we'll make the changes we need to make."
The Saturday competition will include an exhibition by the U.S. Junior National Team prior to the team event.
"That's always a good benchmark and hopefully we'll get some good feedback," said Lowe.
Leading the way for Stanford are seniors Clare McGovern, Sandra Ortellado and Erica Slavin. McGovern is a two-time All-American, while Ortellado and Slavin have been recognized for three consecutive years.
Slavin was recently chosen to train with the Canadian National Team, while Ortellado trained with the U.S. National Team.
At last year's Collegiate National Championships, McGovern, Ortellado and Slavin successfully defended their trio title. McGovern also placed second in solo, while Ortellado and Slavin earned third in duet.
"It's been really fun to have them for four years and amazing to see how far they have come and matured as swimmers," Lowe said. "It's fun to see them push each other to the limits of their routines."
The Cardinal has a good mix of experience and youth. Junior Dylan Harding and Slavin were named team captains.
Strong contributions are also expected from freshmen Jacklyn Luu, Cailin Klauer and Sophia Susac.
"They are hysterical and teach us new dances," said Lowe.
To reduce missed classes and fine-tune routines, only the B Team will travel to Missouri to compete against Lindenwood on Jan. 26-27, while the A Team will take on Lindenwood and Wheaton in Boston on Feb. 23-24.
"They have difficult majors, so a lot of them are taking tough classes and they don't really pull back during the season, which is pretty impressive," Lowe said.
Technical competition starts at 4 p.m. on Friday, followed by routines on Saturday at 11 a.m. Both are open to the public and admission is free. Results can be found at GoStanford.com.