USC Women's Swimming & Diving National Champions
1997 Champions
USC, under then-fourth-year head coach Mark Schubert, secured its first NCAA Championship by upsetting favored Stanford by 11 points, propelled by a team mantra of “it matters in March.”
The Trojans, who had never finished higher than third, broke 11 school records throughout the meet, including Lindsay Benko’s NCAA title defending the 500y free. Benko also picked up a second title, taking the 200y back while senior co-captain Kristine Quance won the 400y IM on Day 2 and the 200y breast on Day 3. Quance and Benko’s wins in the back and breast helped put USC in first late on the final night.
Troy built on that late lead as seniors Karen Campbell and Jean Ellis Todisco went 2-3 in the 200y fly. Divers Natalya Chikina and Dorte Lindner both added points on platform to essentially clinch the title for the Trojans — that is as long as USC completed the final 400y free relay without being DQ'd.
And complete it safely USC did, as Campbell (one of three relays she raced on), Quance, Paige Francis and Benko swam a conservative 3:24.39 to finish seventh, a seventh that felt as good as gold. What followed was USC’s turn to take the traditional team and staff plunge into the pool, the first in program history.
