HONOLULU – The Hawai'i swimming and diving program will open its first year under head coach
Michael Stephens at the USC Invitational Friday and Saturday in Los Angeles.
The UH men's and women's programs will be a part of a field of four schools that also includes Auburn, UC San Diego and host USC. Friday's action will get underway at 11 a.m. HT while day two on Saturday will get going at 6 a.m. HT. Both days of the meet will also be streamed on the USC Live Stream.
The women's program is coming off of runner-up finish at last year's MPSF Championships, but have been the dominant program in the conference in recent years, winning the league title in each of the previous five seasons before last season. In all, the Rainbow Wahine have won eight conference titles, with six of those coming in the last eight years.
The Rainbow Wahine return three swimmers and one diver who have claimed at least one MPSF crown in their careers. Senior
Anna Friedrich won the 200 Back title in 2021 and has also been a part of four championship-winning relay teams.
Kathryn Ivanov took home the 100 Breaststroke title last year on the way to earning MPSF Freshman of the Year honors, while
Elma Lund won the Platform Diving crown and
Gabrielle Scudamore was on the 2021 200 Free Relay winning team.
The Hawai'I men's program finished third at the 2022 MPSF Championships, but won back-to-back conference titles in 2019 and 2020. Six returnees have claimed a conference title in their careers, led by
Tim Masten, who won the 50 Free in 2021 and was a part of the 2022 200 Medley Relay winning team.
Ian Venter,
Tomer Goldfaden and
Justin Lisoway were all on the 200 Medley Relay team with Masten, while Venter,
John Clark and
Timothy Gallagher made up three legs of the 800 Free Relay winning team in 2020.
Following the USC Invitational, the UH swimming & diving teams will host an intrasquad meet on Nov. 5 at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex before heading to the SMU Invitational, Nov. 17-19.
