The WSU swim team’s full regular season has officially arrived. Announced on Friday, head coach Matt Leach described the importance that this season provides with different challenges and opportunities that the Cougars are looking toward.

“I think our schedule this year challenges our student-athletes in order to prepare them for the end of the season. We will see some new competition at our mid-season meet and I’m looking forward to having some great home dual meets and also some tough road competition,” Leach said in a WSU Athletics article.

The Cougars will start the year off at home for Crimson and Gray Intrasquad at Gibb Pool (Sept. 30), before they compete in their first invitational of the year: the Chick-Fil-A Invite in Fresno, Calif. (Oct. 7 -8).

Last season, WSU placed fourth in the Chick-Fil-A Invite with Lauren Burckel and Keiana Fountaine placing the highest for the Cougars, earning bronze medals in the 200 Y Breast and 200 Y Free respectively.

“As we grow and build our family, our incoming class along with our returners should be in a great position to compete against some of the best in the NCAA,” Leach said.

Later in October, WSU opens Pac-12 Conference matches back home hosting California (Oct. 15) and Stanford (Oct. 28) along with a non-conference home meet against Northern Colorado (Oct. 29).

The competition for WSU will continue to strengthen; in mid-November, they will head to the national meet, the Art Adamson Invitational hosted by Texas A&M (Nov. 17-19). Associate head coach Kate Moore spoke about the strength that the schedule provides.

“We are extremely excited to release this season’s schedule and feel it will be the perfect challenge for our very young team to continue to raise the bar,” Moore said in a WSU Athletics article.

Moore described the level of competition the Cougs will face in 2022.

“We have some really exciting home meets including against two of the nation’s Top-10 teams in Cal and Stanford and we can’t wait to get the energy going in Gibb! A trip to Texas A&M for some top competition during our mid-season meet and heading back to the US Open after a couple years off will make for a fun fall,” she said in the article.

The fall schedule for WSU will close with one last trip to the U.S. Open in Greensboro, N.C. (Nov. 30 – Dec. 3.)

In 2023, the Cougars will make the transition from the cold snow to the warm deserts, facing Arizona and Northern Arizona in Tucson Ariz. (Jan. 13, 2023) followed by a matchup at Arizona State (Jan. 14, 2023).

The following weekend after competing in Arizona, WSU heads its way back to the cold for a meet with Utah in Salt Lake City (Jan. 20, 2023).

The regular season will end for WSU, as they host Idaho in the Battle of the Palouse for senior day at Gibb Pool (Feb. 3, 2023).

WSU will make the transition to the post-season competing in the Pac-12 Championships (Feb 22-25, 2023) with the Pac-12 Last Chance Meet scheduled for Feb. 26 in Federal Way.

WSU will make the trip to the 2023 College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America National Invite in Elkhart, Ind. (March 9-11, 2023), before finishing the year at the 2023 NCAA Championships in Knoxville, Tenn. (March 15-18, 2023).