Wisconsin Announces Schedule for 2014-2015 Season, Will Duel 5 Pac 12 Opponents

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

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
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
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
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
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
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