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UH hopes hogs can't swim

Cougar swimmers plunge back into water after two-week break

Stuart H. Clements
The Daily Cougar

It seems somewhat superfluous for a fierce mountain lion to challenge a defenseless pig in its home pen and expect a real fight, but that's exactly what the Houston swimming and diving team expects to do this Saturday. 

The Cougars travel to Fayetteville, Ark., for their 17th dual meet of the season, hoping to extend a record-breaking streak. Houston stands at 9-7 for the season -- the most wins ever tallied by a Cougar swim squad -- and are 3-1 in Conference USA.

Everyone knows that athletes are superstitious, and there may be something to it. The last Cougar meet was a 131-107 road win against North Texas on Jan. 17. Apparently 17 is a winning number for Houston, and another weekend road win could be in the cards.

Without the hocus-pocus, the Razorbacks are a powerful team. They come from the Southeastern Conference, a powerhouse for women's swimming programs.

Arkansas is not the best team in the SEC -- in fact it has sometimes been a punching bag for other SEC teams -- but swimming against the best builds chops.

The Razorbacks (1-8 overall, 0-4 in SEC) went up against No. 2 Georgia and No. 9 Southern Methodist last weekend, and though ownership of the day went primarily to the Bulldogs and Mustangs, freshman diver Alicia Bradley performed well.

Bradley took her first victory of the season with a first-place finish in the one-meter springboard. She scored 257.90 for the victory, sinking the competition by a narrow margin of just four points.

Bradley captured the only first-place finish for the Razorbacks that day. As a team, Arkansas was never completely bullied out of the water. Georgia won 138-85 and SMU won 153-82.

Meanwhile, the Cougars have been practicing hard, but they may need to work some stiffness out in the first couple of events, since they have not competed in two weeks.

If Houston can swing back into action quickly, then 17 may continue to be a good number for road trips.

Freshman Szintia Szanto picked up two first-place finishes against North Texas, winning the 200-yard individual medley and the 200-yard butterfly.

Senior co-captain Lucile Turpin dominated the distance swimming event with a first-place finish in the 1,000-yard freestyle, while junior sprinter Kristin Bay took the 50-yard freestyle.

The Cougars will begin their feeding frenzy Saturday at 11 a.m. in Fayetteville. They will return to the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center natatorium to face No. 9 SMU on Feb. 6.

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