62 // VARSITY March 20, 2014
Badgers return to familiar
venue for NCAA meet
UW set to compete at NCAA championships
T
hey say a little knowl-
edge can be dangerous
but in the case of the Uni-
versity of Wisconsin women's
swimming and diving squad,
some previous knowledge
and experience at a particular
pool could be to their advan-
tage this weekend at the NCAA
championships.
Coming off a meet in which
the Badgers broke five school
records, UW heads into Thurs-
day's opening day with a bit
of momentum. They also have
the confidence of having bro-
ken those records in the same
pool, the University of Minne-
sota Aquatic Center, that will
host the NCAA championships.
"Other than Minnesota
themselves, nobody knows the
Minnesota pool better than
we do," Hite said. "We've been
over there quite often. And I was talking
to Ivy (Martin) a lot about it.
"She knows the walls, the lighting, the
blocks, the deck. Everything's very famil-
iar. So, obviously, for us, it's an advan-
tage."
The other obvious advantage: Ivy Mar-
tin, herself.
Wisconsin's two-time defending Big
Ten champion in the 50-yard freestyle
owns the second-fastest time in the
country in that event and will enter the
championships as one of the favorites to
reach the podium on Thursday.
The Badgers' 200 and 400 freestyle
relays will also be represented at the
NCAA championships. After earning ti-
tles in both events at the Big Ten cham-
pionships in February, Hite believes the
relay has the chance to make some noise
this week despite the lack of high-profile
individual swimmers.
"Our relays are very critical," Hite ex-
plained. "We're in position to do some
very special things and those points are
critical.
"We don't have a lot of bullets. We
keep reminding them to be like a sniper
and just make sure you're on target."
BADGERS EARN BIG TEN HONORS
● Chase Kinney, Rebecka Palm, Emma
Paulson, Aja Van Hout and Ivy Martin
were all named first-team All-Big Ten
honorees following the 2014 Big Ten
Championships.
SCHEDULE
NCAA WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIPS
Thursday Prelims 11 a.m.
Finals 7 p.m.
Friday Prelims 11 a.m.
Finals 7 p.m.
Saturday FInals 11 a.m.
Finals 7 p.m.
INSIDE
SWIMMING & DIVING
BY JEREMY WODAJO @BADGERSWIMDIVE
