WSU swim looks to bounce back after their 174–85 road loss to Arizona State. This loss moves the Cougars to 3-6 on the season. They hold a 0–4 record against conference opponents while extending their losing streak to four meets.

While things looked bleak for the Cougars during their trip to Tempe, Arizona, they still managed to make something out of nothing. Head Coach Matt Leach had pride in his young team as they performed strong even during a tough loss.

“We had a really good 400 relay that needed all four legs of it to be strong,” Leach said. “I think the team really rallied around that for this meet.”

Sophomore Mackenzie Duarte still brought home a first place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke making this her sixth individual victory of the season. To follow up her strong showing in the 200, she managed to earn second in the 100-yard breaststroke.

Continuing her spectacular season, freshman Keiana Fountaine now has 27 top-five finishes this season after she placed in the top five in three of her events. She earned second in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.06 seconds  against Arizona State.

Fountaine also earned second in the 100-yard free with a final time of 51.12 seconds, but still placed fourth in the 200-yard freestyle with a final time of 1:52.88.

The season winds down for the Cougars’ swimming team. As they near the Pac-12 Championships, Leach analyzed how his team has managed to develop during the conference season.

“We’re in the final stages of continuing to learn and grow for the conference,” Leach said. “Overall, I thought we had a good attitude and some strong effort.”

Looking at the Cougars upcoming competition, the Oregon State Beavers, are almost in the same boat as WSU. The Beavers come off a 160–93 loss to UCLA, making them 3-7 on the season, 0-4 in the conference and on a three meet losing streak.

In their loss to UCLA, the Beavers managed to set six season best times. Leading the way for Oregon State was freshman Lauren Yon who posted a new personal record of 1:06.83 in the 100-yard breaststroke.

Going into this meet against the Beavers, Leach had to work with the swimmers on more than just their physical efforts but their mental ones as well.

“Over this past weekend we had our student athletes sit down and write out the atmosphere they want at Pac-12s,” Leach said. “The coaches weren’t in the room. We let it be a student-athlete-driven exercise.”

WSU struggles in the end of its season, but with just two meets left and enough time to gather a couple wins before the conference championships, the Cougars will look to turn things around this weekend.

WSU will travel to compete against Oregon State this Friday, Feb. 1 at 5 p.m. in Corvallis, Oregon.