Oct. 12, 2012

The USC women's swimming and diving team, coming off back-to-back third-place finishes at the NCAA Championships and featuring eight returning All-Americans and a host of Olympians and internationally experienced swimmers and divers, opens the season with a Pac-12 Conference home meet against Utah on Saturday (Oct. 13) at noon.

The team is led by senior co-captain Haley Anderson, a 2012 Olympic silver medalist who was also an NCAA champion, a three-time All-American and a two-time Pac-12 winner. The other seven returning All-Americans include senior co-captain Christel Simms, seniors Lindsay Parrish and Yumi So and juniors Stina Gardell, Meghan Hawthorne, Lynette Lim and Kasey Carlson. Senior Jessica Schmitt, an NCAA individual point scorer last year, is also back.

Bolstering the 2012-13 squad is a large contingent of newcomers led by redshirt sophomore Andrea Kropp and freshman Jasmine Tosky, both 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials finalists, and redshirt sophomore diver Haley Ishimatsu, also a 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials finalist and a 2008 Olympian. Among the other newcomers are 2012 Polish Olympian Kasia Wilk, a freshman, and freshman Kendyl Stewart, who had a pair of top 30 finishes at the 2012 trials.

Trojans at the 2012 Olympics
USC swimmers had a major impact at the 2012 Olympics both for the U.S. and internationally. All told, 13 swimmers from USC competed at the Games, representing 10 counties. Senior Haley Anderson came within half of a second of gold in the women's Marathon 10K open water. Her silver was first career Olympic medal. Other current Trojan women who competed at the games included senior Stina Gardell for Sweden (14th in the 400m IM and 20th in the 200m IM), junior Lynette Lim for Singapore (30th in the 400m free, 31st in the 800m free) and freshman Kasia Wilk for Poland (16th in the 800m free relay and 27th in the 100m free) ... Former Trojan Rebecca Soni set back-to-back world records en route to her second consecutive gold medal in the 200m breaststroke, becoming not only the first woman to repeat as champion in either breaststroke event at the Olympics, but the first American woman to win a combined four medals in the breaststroke events in back-to-back games. She also won gold in the 400m medley relay and came within a whisper of winning three golds in London, finishing second by 0.08 in the 100m breast ... Recent USC grad Katinka Hosszu, who won two NCAA titles in 2012, had four top finishes for Hungary (fourth in the 400m IM, eighth in the 200m IM and ninth in the 200m fly and 800m free relay) ... USC's coaching staff was busy as well at the 2012 Olympics as head coach Dave Salo served as an assistant on the U.S. women's team and assistant coaches Catherine Vogt and Kevin Clements worked with the staffs from Tunisia and Austria, respectively.

Trojans in the 2012 postseason
USC finished third at the 2012 NCAA Championships for the second year in a row thanks to its deepest roster in years, all of whom provided key contributions. The finish was Troy's 10th time in the top 5 and its 24th in the top 10 ... Outgoing senior Katinka Hosszu defended her NCAA titles in the 200y fly and the 400y IM and just missed another title in the 200y IM. Her 57 individual points tied for meet-high honors and she finished her USC career with five NCAA crowns and 20 All-American honors. Joining Hosszu on top of the NCAA podium were Haley Anderson (500y free) and Victoria Ishimatsu (1-meter springboard), both of whom were first-time NCAA winners. USC's four titles overall were its most since also winning four in 1997. Troy's three winners tied its most individual titlists in one season (1980). In all, 12 Trojans earned All-American honors and 13 contributed to the Trojans' point total ... At the 2012 Pac-12 Championships, Hosszu upped her career conference title total to seven after winning the 200y IM, 200y free and 200y fly, leading USC to its third straight third-place finish. Anderson won the 1650y free for the third time in a row and the 500y free for the second time in a row. Her time in the 1650y free (15:41.52) neared Janet Evans' NCAA record. Ishimatsu became the first conference female diver to win an event four years in a row when she claimed the 3-meter springboard. That followed her third straight title in the 500y free and came before her career-best second on platform as she earned Female Diver of the Meet honors for the third year in a row. Stina Gardell posted a trio of top 4 finishes, taking second in the 200y breast, third in the 400y IM and fourth in the 200y IM. Meghan Hawthorne also had a huge meet with three final appearances, finishing fourth in the 400y IM, fifth in the 200y IM and seventh in the 200y breast. Yumi So was a two-finalist, taking sixth in the 100y fly and eighth in the 200y fly ... Jessica Schmitt and Jordan Danny each reached the finals of both the 100y and 200y breast (Danny's first post-season final appearances) while Lynette Lim had a pair of top 8 finishes, taking sixth in the 1650y free and eighth in the 500y free.

Trojans on Upcoming U.S. National Teams
USC redshirt sophomore Andrea Kropp and freshman Jasmine Tosky are among 43 swimmers who will represent Team USA at the 2012 FINA Short Course World Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, Dec. 12-16. Kropp will swim the 200m breast while Tosky will race in the 200m fly. In September, both were also named to the U.S. team that will compete at the 2013 World University Games, July 10-16, in Kazan, Russia. Junior Meghan Hawthorne and freshman Kendyl Stewart will also represent the U.S. at the 2013 World University Games.

Trojans, Academically Speaking
USC women featured 14 swimmers and divers who earned Pac-12 All-Academic honors last year, led by out-going senior and two-time first-teamer Sarah Webb. Departing seniors Ania Kowalczyk and Elaine Lim nabbed second-team honors, as did current junior Lynette Lim. Graduated Amanda Smith and Ella Kidron earned honorable mention honors, as did current seniors Lolo Blair, Christel Simms, Jessica Schmitt, Kate Shumway and Chelsea Wild and juniors Kasey Carlson, Stina Gardell and Meghan Hawthorne. Lynette Lim also earned 2012 CSCAA Scholar All America Team honors.

USC Adds Legendary Coach
Jon Urbanchek, one of America's legendary coaches whose nearly 50 years of experience includes more than two decades as Michigan's head coach, frequent service on U.S. national teams and many years as an elite club coach, is in his first year as a USC volunteer assistant swimming coach in 2012-13. Urbanchek directed the Michigan men's swimming and diving team from 1982-2004, won an NCAA title in 1995 and was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame on July 6, 2008. In 22 seasons as head coach of the Wolverines, Urbanchek led them to an overall record of 163-34 and a 100-4 mark in the Big Ten Conference. Urbanchek served as an assistant coach on the 2004, '00, '96, '92 and '88 U.S. Olympic teams and served as a special assistant in 2008 and 2012. He was also the coach of the 1994 and '98 U.S. World Championships teams.