The Wisconsin Badgers swimming and diving teams have a long history of heading out west for early-season meets against Pac 12 opponents. For a long time, with many, many strong connections between the University of Arizona and University of Wisconsin coaching staffs, the Badgers would go to Tucson to race the Wildcats.
For the last two seasons, though, that meet has been replaced with battles against the dynasties at Cal, but this year, the Wildcats are back on the schedule, and that’s not it.
A brutal fall schedule will see Wisconsin begin their season with road dual meets against Arizona State and Arizona on October 3rd and 4th, travelling to Minneapolis to race Minnesota on October 17th, and then heading back to the Pac-12 for road meets against Cal and Stanford on November 7th and 8th.
In total, Wisconsin will swim 5 of its 11 meets against Pac 12 opponents: more than it will race against Big Ten opponents going into championship season.
The first home meet won’t come until 5 weeks into the competition season, when the Badgers face Northwestern on November 13th.
Then, the Badgers hit the road twice more, with two mid-season invites listed on the schedule: at Ohio State from November 21st-23rd, and at the Texas Invite from December 4th-6th. Head coach Whitney Hite told SwimSwam on Monday morning that he plans to send a full squad to both of those invites, saying “I figure if one is great, then two can be even better.”
In the spring semester, Wisconsin begins again with another Pac-12 opponent: the USC Trojans on January 10th.
Then, finally, Whitney Hite’s squad settles in for a solid run of at-home training. On January 16th and 17th, they will host a two-day tri-meet against Indiana and Notre Dame; on February 6th they will host in-state opponents Milwaukee, and on February 7th they will host in-state opponents Green Bay.
This year’s Big Ten Championships for the women will be February 18th-21st at Columbus; the men will race a week later in Iowa City; and NCAA’s will be in Greensboro and back in Iowa City, respectively.
The Wisconsin women are seeking to make a move into the next tier of teams in the 2014-2015 season. They finished 13th at last year’s NCAA Championship meet, and graduate only one NCAA qualifier (Rebecka Palm) from last year’s team. Among those returning include senior Ivy Martin, who has established herself as one of the top sprinters in the United States at any level. Martin was the runner-up at last year’s USA Swimming
This challenging Wisconsin schedule will see regular-season racing against at least 6 of the top 10 teams from last year’s men’s NCAA Championship meet, and that doesn’t even include defending Big Ten Champs Michigan.
The Wisconsin women will face three of the top five teams in the country from last year (Stanford, Cal, USC) and also see number 9 Texas at the Texas Invitational and number 10 Minnesota on the road.
See the full schedule below.
2014-2015 SCHEDULE
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Date | Opponent / Event | Location | Time / Result |
10/03/14 | at Arizona State | Tempe, Ariz. | TBA |
10/04/14 | at Arizona | Tucson, Ariz. | TBA |
10/17/14 | at Minnesota * | Minneapolis, Minn. | TBA |
11/07/14 | at California | Berkeley, Calif. | TBA |
11/08/14 | at Stanford | Palo Alto, Calif. | TBA |
11/13/14 | vs. Northwestern * | Natatorium | TBA |
Ohio State Invitational | |||
11/21/14 | Ohio State Invitational | Columbus, Ohio | All Day |
11/22/14 | Ohio State Invitational | Columbus, Ohio | All Day |
11/23/14 | Ohio State Invitational | Columbus, Ohio | All Day |
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Texas Invitational | |||
12/04/14 | Texas Invitational | Austin, Texas | All Day |
12/05/14 | Texas Invitational | Austin, Texas | All Day |
12/06/14 | Texas Invitational | Austin, Texas | All Day |
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01/10/15 | at USC | Los Angeles, Calif. | TBA |
01/16/15 | vs. Indiana * | Natatorium | TBA |
01/17/15 | vs. Notre Dame | Natatorium | TBA |
02/06/15 | vs. Milwaukee | Natatorium | TBA |
02/07/15 | vs. Green Bay | Natatorium | TBA |
Women’s Big Ten Championships | |||
02/18/15 | Women’s Big Ten Championships * | Columbus, Ohio | All Day |
02/19/15 | Women’s Big Ten Championships * | Columbus, Ohio | All Day |
02/20/15 | Women’s Big Ten Championships * | Columbus, Ohio | All Day |
02/21/15 | Women’s Big Ten Championships * | Columbus, Ohio | All Day |
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Men’s Big Ten Championships | |||
02/26/15 | Men’s Big Ten Championships * | Iowa City, Iowa | All Day |
02/27/15 | Men’s Big Ten Championships * | Iowa City, Iowa | All Day |
02/28/15 | Men’s Big Ten Championships * | Iowa City, Iowa | All Day |
03/01/15 | Men’s Big Ten Championships * | Iowa City, Iowa | All Day |
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NCAA Women’s Championships | |||
03/20/15 | NCAA Women’s Championships | Greensboro, N.C. | All Day |
03/21/15 | NCAA Women’s Championships | Greensboro, N.C. | All Day |
03/22/15 | NCAA Women’s Championships | Greensboro, N.C. | All Day |
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NCAA Men’s Championships | |||
03/27/15 | NCAA Men’s Championships | Iowa City, Iowa | All Day |
03/28/15 | NCAA Men’s Championships | Iowa City, Iowa | TBA |
03/29/15 | NCAA Men’s Championships | Iowa City, Iowa | TBA |
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xt Event
Day: | Friday | |
Date: | Oct. 3, 2014 | |
Location: | Tempe, Ariz. | |
Time: | TBA |
Wisconsin may be lacking a great pool facility (actually, one of the worst in the Big 10), but they sure have a very healthy travel budget! Their big time football and basketball programs are bringing in the bucks.
Wow, a lot of traveling for them & tough meets. Good luck with that!!
Hite had strong connections with all the Pac-12 teams while being head coach at Washington and assistant to McKeever at Cal!