This season, the No. 2 Stanford women’s swimming and diving team (7-1, 6-0 Pac-10) has been so close. So close to receiving the coveted first-place national ranking. So close to a second consecutive undefeated dual-meet season, losing only to the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs by 12 points. And at the Pacific-10 Swimming and Diving Championships held this past weekend weekend, the Cardinal was so close to taking home a Pac-10 Championship title.

In the end, the No. 4 Arizona Wildcats edged out the Cardinal, scoring 1501 points to Stanford’s 1472 to win their second title Pac-10 title in a row. The Wildcats and Cardinal were comfortably ahead of third-place California, which finished with a score of 1262 points. However, with the field so tightly matched going into the NCAA Championship Meet in three weeks, everybody is still in the race.

Although the Stanford swimmers, as usual, continued their winning tradition at the Pac-10 Championships, it was the divers who turned heads. The Stanford divers not only claimed the win in two of the three diving events, but also had the depth to rack up valuable points for the team. Junior Sarah Ohr earned her first postseason victory in the one-meter competition to get the diving squad off on the right foot.

“Winning the one-meter was an incredible way to start off the meet,” said Ohr. “It gave me great momentum going into the other events. It was my best Pac-10s showing thus far and is a great boost going into [NCAA] Zones. That’s a whole new ball game though.”

Freshman Meg Hostage led a strong Cardinal contingent by posting a Pac-10 title in the three-meter, followed closely by teammates sophomore Carmen Stellar, freshman Hallie Ivester and Ohr, who finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively. Hostage also finished second in the one-meter competition.

Despite such a strong showing, Ohr did not let the success get to her head. The divers still must perform well at the NCAA Zone E Diving Meet on March 13-15 to qualify for the NCAA Championships.

“Everyone did a great job this weekend and every single member of the team has a very good shot at making NCAAs,” Ohr said. “It is going to come down to who shows up ready to compete that day. This is an exciting year for us, having the potential to qualify so many divers for NCAAs, and I am thrilled to be a part of it.”

Head diving coach Dr. Rick Schavone agreed that the divers must keep their heads in the game.

“It was obviously a very successful meet for our divers,” said Schavone. “We had two divers final in all three events, but we still have improvements to make before the NCAA Zone E Meet.”

While the divers were dominating the diving well, the swimmers were doing their job in the pool. Sophomore Elaine Breeden and freshman Kate Dwelley led the Cardinal effort, each winning one event. In perhaps the most exciting race of the weekend, Breeden out-touched Cal’s Olympic gold medalist Dana Vollmer for the second time this season in the 200-yard butterfly, breaking her own Stanford record in the process.

“Dana [Vollmer] is one of my toughest competitors and also one of my oldest friends in swimming,” Breeden said. “We have been racing since we were twelve, going back and forth in the butterfly events ever since then. Having an incredible swimmer like Dana to race is the best thing I could ask for. She continually pushes me to explore new strategies and forces me to race my best every time we are in the pool together.”

Breeden’s 200 butterfly time is currently the fastest in the nation this season. Breeden also finished second in the 200 individual medley and third in the 100 butterfly.

“Pac-10s is an awesome experience because we have the whole team there cheering every swimmer on and celebrating every victory,” she said. “It is so much easier to swim fast and race hard when you have 20 other people counting on you.”

Dwelley took home a Pac-10 title in her first-ever conference championships in the 200 freestyle, making her the second-fastest Stanford swimmer of all time in that event. She also placed second in the 500 freestyle and eighth in the 100 freestyle.

The 200 medley relay team of junior Fiona O’Donnell-McCarthy, freshman Liz Smith, Breeden, and senior Brooke Bishop also made the books by breaking a Stanford school record, despite finishing second behind a quick Arizona squad.

But the swimmers’ success did not stop there. Sophomore Julia Smit finished in the top three in each of her events — second in the 400 individual medley and third in the 200 individual medley and 200 backstroke. Smith and junior Caroline Bruce finished second and third, respectively, in the 200 breaststroke behind USC’s Rebecca Soni, who broke former Cardinal Tara Kirk’s (‘04) NCAA record. Smith currently holds the nation’s second-fastest time this season in that event behind Soni. Bruce logged a third place finish in the 100 breaststroke as well.

Senior captains Bishop and Elizabeth Durot both had strong showings in their fourth and final Pac-10 meet. Bishop finaled in all three of her individual events, with a fourth place finish in the 50 freestyle, fifth in the 100 backstroke and seventh in the 100 freestyle. Durot moved herself up to the fifth-fastest Stanford swimmer ever in the mile with her second place finish.

Other finalists for the Cardinal included junior Laura Wadden in the 200 backstroke and 200 butterfly, junior Andrea Axtell in the 200 backstroke, sophomore Whitney Spence in the 200 and 500 freestyles and O’Donnell-McCarthy in the 100 backstroke.

Coming out of Pac-10s, Breeden is confident that the team is in a great position going into the NCAA meet in three weeks.

“I have no doubt that Stanford is going to have an awesome meet at NCAAs,” Breeden said. “Everyone did well despite not being rested this weekend. This was a breakthrough meet for several of my teammates, and those achievements are going to help motivate the team to continue swimming well until the end of the season.

“NCAAs is going to be a tough and highly competitive meet, but we are confident that we have put in the work and that we will be ready when it comes time to race.”