This Friday will be the beginning of what will be a very busy weekend for the WSU swim team. Their doubleheader weekend begins with a Pac-12 matchup against Arizona at 1 p.m. in Tucson, Arizona.

The next morning, WSU will travel up the road to Tempe, Arizona, to take on their other conference rival, Arizona State, at 10 a.m. These meets will be the only two meets for the month of January.

The last time in the pool for the Cougars was just before the holiday break when they traveled to Houston to be a part of the Phil Hansel Invitational.

“I really saw our program come together in that meet,” Head Coach Matt Leach said. “Fifteen times in the top 10 all time, which is great!”

WSU’s first opponent this weekend, Arizona, sits at .500 with a record of 2-2 on the season. The Cougars meanwhile are a bit below even with a record of 3-4 putting their win percentage at .429.

The Wildcats and the Cougars are both riding a two-game losing streak coming into their matchup. While both teams struggle with their records coming into the new year, this is Arizona’s first home meet of the season. It will host a strong WSU team that is undefeated on the road.

All season long, Leach has emphasized having good energy and creating a strong team culture. Looking forward to getting back in the water to continue their season, Leach said the team needs to continue practicing well.

“We have to make sure we get back to doing it in practice. From warm-ups, to a chunk of our training, to cooldowns, we need to make sure we’re giving good energy to each other,” Leach said.

The second half of the season will be a return to much of what the Cougars have faced before with a dual-meet weekend. The first two meets will be a good time for WSU to make sure they’re not losing attention to detail in their races.

Leach mentioned the team will focus on the little things like turns and starts off the blocks for these first two meets. This will be a good starting weekend for the second half of the WSU swim season when they dive in at 1 p.m. Friday.