Stanford Welcomes Slugs
Stanford Cardinal vs. UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs
Friday, Oct. 4 • 2 p.m. (PT)
Stanford, Calif. • Avery Aquatic Center
On the Web • GoStanford.com • Pac-12.com • GoSlugs.com • SCAC.com
Live Results • Live results will be available at GoStanford.com
The Field
Stanford
• Stanford opens its 2013-14 season Friday at Avery Aquatic Center with a friendly meet against West Coast neighbor UC Santa Cruz.
• The Cardinal is coming off a campaign in which Kristian Ipsen and David Nolan each earned a pair of individual titles as Stanford finished seventh at the 2013 NCAA Championships.
• Stanford set four school records in 2012-13 under the direction of (then) first-year head coach Ted Knapp.
UC Santa Cruz
• The Slugs finished fifth at last season's Pacific Collegiate Swimming and Diving Conference Championships, with head coach Kim Musch earning his second coach of the year honor.
The Format
• The meet will follow a very, very non-traditional format.
• Swimmers will compete in pre-designated heats and lanes for the duration of the meet.
• Swimmers will not know in which event they will swim until they step onto the blocks. A carnival wheel - which includes nine different events - will be spun prior to each race. Swimmers will compete in the event designated by the portion of the wheel on which the needle stops.
• The nine events include a 50- and 100-yard version of the four major strokes, the 100 IM and a ‘Daily Double.’ If ‘Daily Double’ is selected, the wheel will be spun again until another event is designated, with swimmers having to ‘double’ the yardage of the race.
• No heat will compete in the same event twice.
Ted Talks
Goldman Family Director of Men’s Swimming Ted Knapp on Friday’s meet ...
"We’re excited for our first competition and to have the chance to race. We visited UC Santa Cruz in two of the past three seasons, and it’s nice to have them here for the first time. We’ve wanted to play host to Santa Cruz and we wanted to do so while staying away from the traditional meet format. We hope both programs will enjoy the day of racing.
"This meet will have an element of uncertainty and excitement with a fun twist to it. It reminds us of when we were children and one would say, ‘Let's race to that tree’ or ‘I’ll race you across the yard to the street.’ It’s all about racing, but you won't know what you’re in for next.
"We’re giving our swimmers the chance to race -- regardless of event -- and the randomness and anticipation of being on the blocks and not knowing what you’re going to swim is a welcoming challenge."