Badgers Cap Homestand

STANFORD, Calif. -- For the first time in 20 months, the Stanford women’s swimming and diving team looks to rebound from a dual meet loss when Wisconsin visits The Farm Saturday. The Cardinal and Badgers men’s teams also take part in the combined event starting at 10 a.m.

Texas finished off then-No. 13 Stanford (2-1), 156-144, Oct. 30 in nearly an identical finish to the two teams’ 2013 dual, but with the opposite outcome to hand the Cardinal its first loss since February 2013. With the Cardinal needing a first- and third-place finish in the final relay, the Longhorns out-touched the 200-yard freestyle relay squad by .06 for the overall win. In 2013, Stanford won the final relay to come up with a 154-146 victory in Austin, Texas.

“Texas has given us a really good meet for the past three years,” said head coach Greg Meehan. “They just out-swam us (Thursday). It’s a good reminder that over the course of a 16-event meet, two points would have changed the outcome.”

Despite the blemish on the win-loss record, Meehan was pleased the team was able to race in a competitive environment leading up to the fall’s premiere racing, the Art Adamson Invitational in College Station, Texas, Nov. 21-23, and ultimately the spring championship season. Freshman Simone Manuel continued to shine, with three more individual wins, and classmates Ally Howe (200-yard backstroke) and Janet Hu (100-yard breaststroke) also factored with wins. Maddy Schaefer won the 50-yard freestyle.  

Meehan also teamed with Texas head coach Carol Capitani to donate $1 to charities for every fan in pink at the meet. Meehan split his donation between Susan G. Komen for a Cure San Francisco and the Movember Foundation. Capitani vowed to donate to Komen Austin.

No. 16 Wisconsin (1-2, 0-1 Big Ten)
All-American Ivy Martin, a senior freestyle sprinter, leads the Badgers group that finished 13th at last year’s NCAA Championships. Martin scored in two individual events at the NCAA meet, the 50-yard freestyle (4th) and 100-yard freestyle (10th), while also contributing to Wisconsin’s 200-yard freestyle relay (6th), 200-yard medley relay (13th) and 400-yard freestyle relay (8th) teams.

The Badgers own a win over Arizona State (142-94), but have lost two straight to Arizona (196-104) and Minnesota (203-95). Wisconsin visits California Friday at 1 p.m.

In The Rankings
The Cardinal appears at No. 3 in the latest Collegiate Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) poll. George comes in at No. 1 and Texas is No. 2. Other Pac-12 teams in the poll include No. 4 California, No. 5 USC, No. 13 Arizona and No. 21 UCLA. Wisconsin is ranked No. 19.