Patrick TrautfieldThe Cal Poly women’s swimming and diving team will travel to Pepperdine in Malibu to take on San Diego State in a nonconference meet at noon Saturday.
The meet is the women’s last meet before entering the Big West Conference Championships in Long Beach from Feb. 21 to 24.
The Mustangs have already defeated Pepperdine twice this season, but are yet to swim against San Diego State.
“Pepperdine and San Diego State are both good teams, and we could very well win the meet, but I’m more concerned about how sharp we come across and how we do individually,” Cal Poly head coach Tom Milich said.
The women lost to their last opponents, UC Davis and Pacific, in a meet Jan. 20.
The team started off its training by swimming about 11 miles per practice and Milich is slowly working down the swimmers’ mileage to get them ready for the races they face at the end of the season.
“This is going to be a tune-up meet for us,” Milich said. “In swimming you train so hard and so much to prepare for the championships, sometimes you just want to cut out the competitions and get to training.”
After Saturday’s competition, the women will not have any other meets until the championships. The time off between the meets will allow the women the necessary time in the pool instead of on the road.
“This meet will be a good indicator to see where you are at, but if you don’t swim well you still have time to get ready for the championships,” said sophomore Patricia Laverty, who will be swimming in the 100- and 200-meter backstroke events and the medley relay.
Cal Poly is one of six in the Big West, which also includes UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, Pacific, UC Davis and Cal State Northridge in swimming.
“I think Cal State Northridge could be our biggest competition at the championships,” Laverty said.
The Mustangs lost to Cal State Northridge on Jan. 12 by a score of 133-129.
The Cal Poly men do not compete again until the Big West Conference Championships, which are also held for the men from Feb. 21 to 24.