The NCAA News - News and Features

March 16, 1998

Division I Women's Swimming and Diving

Pac-10 battle now goes national

Event: 1998 Division I Women's Swimming and Diving Championships.

Overview: The Pacific-10 Conference Championships may have been a preview of how things will turn out in this year's Division I women's championships. Stanford captured its 12th straight conference title, with reigning Division I champion Southern California finishing second and Arizona finishing third .... Stanford currently is ranked No. 1 in the College Swimming Coaches Association of America rankings, followed by Southern California in third and Arizona in fifth. Sophomore Catherine Fox and freshman Misty Hyman look to lead the Cardinal to its sixth NCAA title in the last seven years. Fox will try to defend her title in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke .... Southern California returns Lindsay Benko, national champion in the 200 backstroke and the 500 freestyle. Coach Mark Schubert also will rely heavily on the youth of his squad in defending the team championship, as five freshmen have qualified to compete at the championships .... Arizona looks strong with Trinia Jackson, defending champion in the 1,650-yard freestyle. Also look for the Wildcats to make a strong showing in the 400 freestyle relay .... Southern Methodist and Georgia are the strongest contenders from outside the Pac-10, which has claimed every title since 1992. Southern Methodist returns 10 all-Americans from last year's team, which finished third. Martina Moravcova, last year's swimmer of the year, hopes to repeat as champion in the 100- and 200-yard freestyles and 200 individual medley. Georgia will enter the championships as Southeastern Conference champions. Freshman Keegan Walkley hopes to make her mark in the 500 freestyle, 200 backstroke, and 200 and 400 individual medleys.

Field: The maximum number of participants allowed is 270. All qualifiers who have met the "A" time standard will be admitted in the meet; those who have met the "B" time standard will be considered until the event is filled. No team is allowed more than 18 competitors.

Dates and site: The championships will be March 19-21 at the University Aquatics Center at Minnesota.

Television coverage: ESPN will televise the championships on a tape-delayed basis at 12:30 a.m. (Eastern time) March 29.

Information/results: The fax-on-demand telephone number is 770/339-3060 (passcode 1915); request numbers are 5211 for the list of qualifiers, 5212 for the first day's results, 5213 for the second day's results and 5214 for the final day's results. Individual and team results also will be available on the World Wide Web at www.ncaa.org. Championships results will be published in the March 30 issue of The NCAA News.