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Measured by national championships, national awards and Olympics success, the Pac-12 Conference has the most impressive legacy in collegiate swimming. The 2018 Pac-12 Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships will again showcase multiple Olympians and NCAA standouts from all over the world. Among the field competing this week is defending NCAA Champion STANFORD.

As of Feb. 14, six teams were ranked in the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Top-25 poll, including Stanford and CALIFORNIA at No. 1 and 2, respectively. USC is at No. 8, UCLA at No. 21, ARIZONA STATE at No.22 and ARIZONA at No. 24.

Last year, Stanford captured its 20th overall women’s swimming and diving Conference title in record fashion, placing first in 15 out of the 21 events, totaling 1,587.5 points. Five American records and six Pac-12 Championship records were broken over four days of competition as the Pac-12 held 14 of the 16 top times in the country entering the 2017 NCAA Championships.

After the Pac-12 Championships, Stanford claimed its ninth NCAA Swimming and Diving title, also in record fashion and its first since 1998. Pac-12 teams topped the podium in 16 out of a possible 21 events at the NCAA Championships that included five American records, two NCAA records and five pool records being broken by Pac-12 student-athletes over the four-day competition.

ARIZONA: The Wildcats are led into the postseason by sophomore Hannah Cox. Cox set the school record in the 1,000-yard freestyle at the USA Swimming College Challenge where a team of Pac-12 student-athletes defeated the USA team. Throughout the 2018 season, she has 15 victories in five events, including seven in the 1,000-yard freestyle. The Wildcats’ season is highlighted by performances at the Texas Invitational where 19 swimmers earned NCAA B cuts in their respective events. Arizona won four dual and quad meets, including dual meets against Washington State, Utah and UCLA, and a quad meet against NAU, Rice and New Mexico State.

ARIZONA STATE: The Sun Devils earned their first ranked win of the season in their second meet of the season. Unranked ASU knocked off then-No. 23 Florida State. Freshman diver Ashley McCool set and reset the 3-meter school record against California and Stanford, also setting a new Stanford pool record in the event. For the feat, she was named Pac-12 Women’s Diver of the Week on Jan. 24. Sophomore Chloe Isleta set a new 200 IM school record twice in the same day at the Art Adamson Invitational at Texas A&M in the prelims and once again in the finals. ASU also earned its first victory over UCLA since Nov. 11, 2011 with a convincing 189-111 win.

CALIFORNIA: No. 2 California has finished among the top three at the NCAA Championships nine years in a row - the longest current streak in the country. Junior Kathleen Baker earned three medals for the United States at the World Championships over the summer: a silver medal in the 100-meter backstroke (matching her result in the event from the 2016 Olympics), a bronze medal in the 200-meter back and a gold medal on the world-record-setting 400-meter medley relay. She also placed fifth in the 50-meter back after setting an American record during her semifinal swim. Junior Katie McLaughlin competed in six events for the United States at the 2017 World University Games in Taipei last summer, picking up medals as part of three relays: 800-meter free relay (silver), 400-meter free relay prelims (bronze) and 400-meter medley relay prelims (silver).

OREGON STATE: Thus far in the 2018 season, sophomore Felicia Anderson and junior Arianna Letrari have posted six combined NCAA B standard times to lead Oregon State. Letrari posted a 2:00.94 in the 200-yard IM during the first day of the 69th Husky Invite. Anderson added a 54.42 in the first leg of the 400-yard medley relay as the backstroke specialist on the same day. Letrari and Anderson both posted second B times in their respective events, the 100-yard fly and 100 back, and then two more B standards on the third day as Anderson went 1:59.13 in the 200-yard back while Letrari added a time of 1:58.55 in the 200-yard fly.

STANFORD: No. 1 Stanford capped off a third-straight undefeated regular season, winning 23-straight dual meets and consecutive Pac-12 duals, dating back to the Cal dual meet on Feb. 14, 2015. 2016 Olympians Katie Ledecky, Simone Manuel and Kassidy Cook highlight the lineup that is looking for back-to-back Conference Championships for the first time since 2010 and 2011, and back-to-back NCAA titles for the first time since winning five in a row from 1992-96. Stanford met with No. 2 California for its final dual meet of the season, which including three pool records. The Cardinal also has the highest team GPA in the Pac-12 with a 3.59.

UCLA: After a fifth place finish for the second-straight year in 2017, the Bruins look to sophomore diver Eloise Belanger, the three-time Pac-12 Diver of the Month/Week, and a duo of freestylers in senior Katie Grover and sophomore Kenisha Liu to improve upon team placement. UCLA ended its regular season with the first ever tie against USC. While the Bruins won nine events to the then-No. 10 Trojans' seven, the teams posted identical scores of 150. Belanger, Liu and Emma Schanz each posted two individual wins on the day for the Bruins, but the 200-yard free relay turned in a school- and pool-record time of 1:28.91 to ensure the tie.

USC: The Trojans have posted numerous strong NCAA consideration times and have even registered a handful of automatic qualifiers. USC’s NCAA A cuts include sophomore Louise Hansson’s 1:43.19 in the 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard fly (50.41) and 200-yard fly (1:52.66); junior Riley Scott in the 100-yard breast (58.64); and freshman Maggie Aroesty’s 2:06.88 in the 200-yard breast. USC also has A cuts in the 400-yard and 800-yard free relays, and the 200-yard and 400-yard medley relays. Hansson was named SwimSwam’s Swimmer of the Month for October for her strong outing at the SMU Classic and USA College Challenge.

UTAH: The Utes come to Federal Way finishing seventh at the championships in 2017 and look to improve on that this season. Utah won five-straight dual meets this season, including Conference wins at Oregon State and Washington State. The win over the Cougars was highlighted by freshman diver Clare Greenlow, placing first in the 1-meter. Greenlow finished 13th at the highly competitive UCLA Diving Invitational two weeks prior. Utah also had a 3.49 grade point average during the fall semester, the highest GPA recorded by the Utes since the CSCAA starting handing out team awards in 2010. It is also the 10th-straight semester the Utes have earned a team academic award.

WASHINGTON STATE: The Cougars have five swimmers with NCAA B standard times, including four freshman: Emily Cook in the 100-yard back, Mackenzie Duarte in the 200-yard breast, Alba Fores in the 100-yard free and Taylor McCoy in the 200-yard breast. Joining the freshman is junior Jasmine Margetts who has B cuts in the 200-yard fly and 400-yard IM. Cook set the school record in the 100-yard back at the Ohio State Invitational with a time of 53.70, the fastest time by any freshman in the Pac-12 and 12th-fastest freshman in the NCAA. The freshman has eight individual and five relay wins on the season. Margetts has 11 individual wins.

MEN’S DIVING: The men’s diving competition is set to feature some of the top talent in the nation once again. STANFORD’s Tarek Abdelghany earned the Pac-12 Diver of the Week award on Jan.17 and claimed the honor the following week, as well. USC senior Dashiell Enos, the defending two-time three-meter Pac-12 Champion, was the December Pac-12 Diver of the Month. Enos looks to continue his momentum from a successful season thus far, including a 2017 USA Diving Winter National Bronze Medal finish in the synchronized three-meter with teammate Henry Fusaro, who was tabbed the November Pac-12 Diver of the Month. Last season, Enos was named Pac-12 Diver of the Year while Fusaro picked up the Newcomer of the Year honor. Nathan Makarewicz of Utah collected his first Pac-12 weekly award on Jan. 31 after capturing the one- and three-meter events against the Cougars. The transfer from Princeton has the fourth-highest mark in program history in the one-meter and ranks sixth in the three-meter.