Pac-12 Weekly Preview: Cal-Stanford, UCLA-USC Showdowns Finally Here

Cal's Noemie Thomas. Photo Courtesy: Vaughn Ridley/Swimming Canada

By Dan D’Addona.

The college swimming regular season is winding down, but it won’t finish without a bang.

This week, there are two major rivalry dual meets in the Pac-12, both in women’s competition.

On Friday, UCLA faces USC, which is one of the major rivalries in college sports, that includes an intense rivalry in the pool.

But on Saturday, it is the meet everyone has been waiting for: Cal vs. Stanford.

Not only is it one of the biggest swimming rivalries in the country, along with one of the best in all sports, the teams have a huge chunk of the biggest names and biggest goals.

To top it off, they are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the country right now with Stanford holding the top spot.

This is not only a battle for first place in the Pac-12 regular season, but it is the first of the trifecta of showdowns between these two rivals. It will be a sneak peak at what might bee seen at the Pac-12 Championships. The Pac-12 Championships will then be a sneak peak at what will be seen at the NCAA Championships.

That turns this dual meet into a little bit of a chess match by both coaches as neither wants to show every option to the other.

But both coaches know all of the options because each team is loaded with elite talent — some of the best swimmers in the world.

Stanford is led by Olympic gold medalists Katie Ledecky, Simone Manuel, as well as Olympic medalist Lia Neal and Olympic diver Kassidy Cook. That doesn’t include NCAA champion Ella Eastin or All-Americans Janet Hu and Ally Howe.

The list is impressive for Cal, too.

The Golden Bears are led by Olympic gold medalists Kathleen Baker and Abbey Weitzeil as well as Olympians Noemie Thomas and Farida Osman and All-American Amy Bilquist, who missed making it to Rio by one spot. The Golden Bears also have a heavy supporting cast with Celina Li, Kristen Vredeveld, Katie McLaughlin and Valerie Hull.

So no matter which star swimmers are in each race, there will be some huge individual races in the most anticipated meet of the year.

The UCLA-USC meet should be pretty exciting, too, with USC’s Riley Scott and Louise Hansson facing off against UCLA’s Linnea Mack and Madison White.

Only one other meet is happening this week with Utah facing Washington State, but all eyes will be on the rivalry showdowns.

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