The WSU women’s swimming team is ready to dive back into the pool and build off of their ninth place finish in last year’s Pac-12 championships.

The Cougars will start the 2013-14 season with a road meet against last year’s Pac-12 champions and the No. 2 ranked team in the country, the Stanford Cardinals. Head coach Tom Jager is in his third season with the Cougs and is looking to improve on last season’s disappointing finish.

“I thought we had great confidence (last year), but by the time we got to the meet we lacked a little bit of poise, so that’s part of our leadership,” said Jager. 

That leadership will be on full display this season as the team returns five seniors, including Heather Morlan and Sweden native Emma Johansson. Johansson posted her best season last year, finishing first in the 100m and 200m butterfly against Seattle and racing the 13th best time in NCAA Division I swimming with a 54.82 in the 100m butterfly against ASU and Grand Canyon University.

As a junior, Morlan competed in every race for the Cougars and finished third in the 1,000m freestyle in both the Seattle dual and the Arizona meet. 

“Johansson is a great leader, a fast swimmer, and that helps to have that combination,” said Jager. “I think Morlan does a great job; she works hard; she’s made huge improvements, so she’s been a great leader and bought into the program.”

Last season, eight Cougar swimmers made the Cougar all-time top 10 lists. Jager said the team has come a long way since his first season as coach, when WSU struggled with confidence. He said it is not about their focus or drive, but if they can execute as a team.

“It’s about making that next step and winning heats at the conference championship and beating some people in the relays that we need to beat,” Jager said.

The Pac-12 is one of the strongest swimming conferences in the nation, with six schools finishing in the top-25 last season. The Cougars’ confidence will be tested early with its first two meets in the Bay Area against the top two teams in the country, Stanford and California. The Cougs will also swim against last year’s No. 1 ranked team in the nation, USC, and race in the Hawkeye Invitational in December in Iowa City, Iowa.

“We don’t have any easy meets, and we just want to be competitive and swim our own races,” said Jager. “We don’t want to get wrapped up trying to be world record holders.”

Other swimmers with potential this season include sophomore Shaya Schaedler and junior Alison Mand, who both contributed to top relay finishes last season. Schaedler finished fifth in the 100m backstroke against Oregon State as a freshman, while Mand finished third in the 100m butterfly against UCLA and University of California, Davis. 

Jager said Schaedler is healthy this year and worked hard over the summer to get in shape for the season. He said the freshmen this season are skilled and bring a work ethic that has been non-existent in WSU swimming. 

“I think this year our team is ready to deliver the punch,” said Jager. “They’re good enough to compete in this conference.”