With their fourth straight collegiate national championship already taken care of, the women of the Stanford synchronized swimming team is looking to finish their unblemished season with a flourish at the U.S. Nationals competition in Tucson, Ariz.

The event began yesterday and will run through tomorrow. The Cardinal currently sits in second place in the team competition behind Ohio State — the very team that Stanford ousted at the collegiate championships a little over a month ago — with a score of 95.167. The Santa Clara Aquamaids are tied in second with the Cardinal.

Stanford senior Sara Lowe stood out during yesterday’s competition, posting the best score in the solo event with a 94.833. Lowe teamed up with fellow senior Courtenay Stewart to also take first place in the duet as they scored a 95.500.

The U.S. Nationals differ from the Collegiate Championships in that they are open to club teams. As Stewart explained, the importance of the event amps up a notch as there are a number of top club teams around the nation.

“Synchronized swimming is bigger on the club level than it is on the collegiate level,” Stewart said. “People either train full time or train to make a national team.

“In the grand scheme of things this is a bigger competition,” Stewart continued. “There’s (sic) no limits at U.S. Nationals. Club and collegiate teams can be there, so it’s truly an indicator of who the best team in the country is.”

Unlike the Stanford team, club teams have no limit on the number of hours they are allowed to practice per week. The Cardinal can only practice 20 hours a week due to NCAA restrictions, but many club teams are in the pool up to 40 hours a week.

The added dynamic of facing club teams with players as old as 30 years old makes for a different, more serious kind of event.

“This competition has a more serious feel than our NCAA competitions but at the same time I feel like the level of competition is maybe just a little bit more difficult,” said sophomore Taylor Durand.

The U.S. Nationals will be the team’s last meet of the year; more than anything else, it serves as “icing on the cake,” as Durand put it. Winning this weekend’s competition would only further Stanford’s recent dominance of its sport: the program has won four straight collegiate national titles and also won the U.S. Nationals event last year, becoming the first college program to achieve such a feat.

This weekend’s event will also mark the end of the careers for four Stanford seniors: Taylor, Lowe, Melissa Knight and Poppy Carlig. The four seniors won national titles in all of their four years on the Farm, and concluding their careers with a win at the U.S. Nationals would certainly be a fitting end.

“It’s just been special,” Durand said. “The four seniors who are graduating are a really big part of this time and have been huge role models. We’re all just trying to learn everything we can and make this a really great last season for them.”

Although the team stands in second place going into today’s competition, the Cardinal has very high hopes for this weekend.

“I’m really confident in our work we’ve put in and I really think that we definitely have a shot,” Durand said. “I think we can definitely bring this home.”

“I think everyone on our team is feeling very positive, unlike all of the club teams, we’ve already had a huge competition under our belts — the Collegiate Championships,” said Stewart. “That was a learning experience.

“We’ve had four weeks to improve despite injuries that have come up on our team. We’ve definitely pulled together as a team and are in a really good place right now.”