USC kicked off the meet on a strong note, winning the 800y free relay and crushing the school record with a time of 6:55.17. The quartet of freshmen Kristen Vose and Allie Wooden and juniors Anika Apostalon and Chenault is just the fifth relay team in program history to win a Pac-12 title. Chenault retuned on Thursday with a wining time of 4:38.13 in the 500y free, while three other Trojans finished int he top eight of the event. After two days, the Trojans now have 471 points, two more than Stanford and 34.5 ahead of Cal.
"We have had some inspiring swims though this session," said head coach Dave Salo after Thursday's swimming concluded. "It's clear that the women want to win a championship. Tomorrow is the critical session if we can hold to the slight lead that we have."
The Women of Troy aren't the only ones in pursuit of a title as the Pac-12 Men's Diving Championships are also in action in Federal Way, Washington. In the first day of competition on Wednesday, sophomore Dashiell Enos claimed USC's first 3-meter conference title since 1999 with 419.35 points. Senior diver Collin Pollard turned in a career-best performance on Thursday, finishing second in the 1-meter springboard with 402.15, just 3.45 points behind the leader.
The excitement continues on Friday with finals in the 400y IM, 200y free, 100y breast and more. The 2016 Pac-12 Women's Swimming and Diving champion will be crowned on Saturday after the final day of competition which includes finals in the 200y back, 200y breast and 400y free relay.
Be sure to follow @USCswim for race updates, photos and more all weekend.
