Women’s Swim & Dive Starts Home Slate Against UCLA, USC

SALT LAKE CITY – The University of Utah women's swimming and diving team is preparing to begin the program's home slate with back-to-back meets at the Ute Natatorium, the first one on Friday when they'll host the No. 20 UCLA Bruins for a contest set to begin at 1 p.m., followed by an 11 a.m. clash with the No. 8 USC Trojans on Saturday.
 
Utah's women's swim and dive team will be back inside a building they've defended successfully over the last three seasons, posting 8-3 home record, with the most recent addition to that mark being a victory in a tri-meet against Colorado Mesa and Denver a season ago. Included on that ledger is a 2019-20 campaign in which the Utah women were 5-1 at the natatorium and closed out their home slate by winning four-in-a-row.
 
The Utes will be attempting to maintain that success against two teams making their first trip to Salt Lake City since 2018. The Bruins are coming off a 2021-22 season in which they finished fourth at the Pac-12 Championships and returned a group that included All-American swimmer Claire Grover and diver Hannah Butler, who's a five-time NCAA Qualifier.
 
The Trojans haven't skipped a beat under new head coach Lea Maurer and have moved up from their season-ending ranking of 11th a year ago. The student-athletes who make up their roster include national champion Kaitlyn Dobler and conference champions Anicka Delgado, Isabelle Odgers and Lina Sculti. That group helped USC post a perfect 3-0 record in road meets in 2021-22.
 
Last Time Out
The Utes got their regular season started with two of the toughest tests on their schedule, visiting California and Stanford on consecutive days on Oct. 12 and 13.
 
Against the Golden Bears, Utah collected a slew of top three finishes, two of which belonged to Taylor Kabacy. The junior got the day off to an excellent start by posting a new personal best in the 1000 freestyle to take second, then snagging second place in 500 free as well. Kabacy also garnered a second-place finish in the 500 free at Stanford.
 
Summer Stanfield earned a spot in the program record book by posting Utah's eighth fastest time in the 200 butterfly at 2:00.59, which was also a new personal best for her, then she also logged a top three finish in the 200 back, finishing in 1:59.90. The Utes benefited from an excellent debut performance from Hilja Schimmel as well, who recorded second-place performances in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes.
 
Against Stanford, two of the Utes' star swimmers were Stanfield and Charity Pittard, as Stanfield took second in the 200 backstroke and the 200 individual medley. Pittard's day was highlighted by a second place finish in the breaststroke and she also snagged third in the 200 IM.
 
Divers Holly Waxman and Kathryn Grant didn't waste any time flashing their top form, starting with a pair of 1m dives that earned both of them NCAA Qualifying marks. Grant's score came in at 268.10, while Waxman won the event with a mark of 274.85. One day later against the Cardinal, Waxman registered her second-highest score ever, posting a 290.33, while Grant's 1m dive was good enough to score a 282.38, putting her in the top 10 in program history. The freshman from Canada followed that up by recording an NCAA Zone score in the 3m with an effort that earned her a 280.13. Not to be left out, Lizzy DeCecco made her presence felt against California, coming out on top in the 3m with a score of 261.10.
 
Looking Ahead
Utah's men's and women's swimming and diving teams will both be in action at home on Nov. 4, when the Utes will be hosting another dual meet, this one against the UNLV Rebels.
 
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