Feb. 16, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

NEXT MEET
Live Results
Saturday, February 16, 2008 (1 pm, PT)
No. 8 California (5-1, 4-1 Pac-10) at No. 2 Stanford (6-1, 5-0 Pac-10)
Avery Aquatic Center • Stanford, CA
Notes: *Short-Course Yards Meet

STANFORD LOOKING TO WRAP UP UNBEATEN PAC-10 DUAL MEET SEASON
No. 2 Stanford (6-1, 5-0 Pac-10) can wrap up an unbeaten Pac-10 dual meet season with a victory over Bay Area rival and No. 8 California (5-1, 4-1 Pac-10) in the final dual meet of the 2007-08 regular season at the Avery Aquatic Center on Saturday, February 16. A victory would also give the Cardinal its 12th straight Pac-10 dual meet victory and second straight unbeaten run through the Pac-10 as Stanford was 6-0 in the conference in 2006. Calfornia's 169-131 victory over the Cardinal the last time the teams met on The Farm (February 11, 2006) marks Stanford's most recent Pac-10 dual meet loss.

STANFORD-CALIFORNIA HISTORY
Stanford holds a 30-4 all-time advantage in the all-time series between the schools. However, Calfornia has won the last two meets between the teams swam at the Avery Aquatic Center. Stanford had won 27 consecutive meetings between the clubs before California broke the long streak with a thrilling 151-149 victory over the Cardinal in front of an Avery Aquatic Center record crowd of 1784 on Valentine's Day in 2004. Stanford has rebounded to win two of the last three meets between the schools but California was also a winner the last time the teams met on The Farm with a 169-131 victory on February 11, 2006. Stanford has fared much better than California in postseason action. The Cardinal has finished higher than the Golden Bears in all 21 years of the existence of the Pac-10 Championships and in the first 25 NCAA Championships contested from 1981-2005. California has managed to finish one place higher than Stanford at each of the last two NCAA meets, taking fourth compared to Stnaford's fifth in 2006 and third with Stanford finishing fourth in 2007.

STANFORD CONTINUES TO ROLL THROUGH PAC-10 ACTION WITH 11 STRAIGHT CONFERENCE WINS
Stanford has rolled through its Pac-10 with 11 consecutive conference dual meet victories over the past two seasons. The most recent Stanford wins came with a sweep of UCLA and USC in Los Angeles on February 1 and 2. The Cardinal also has wins over Arizona, Arizona State and Washington this season. Last year, Stanford was victorious against Arizona, Arizona State, California, Oregon State, UCLA and USC. California is the last team to have defeated Stanford in a Pac-10 meet with its 169-131 victory over the Cardinal at the Avery Aquatic Center on February 11, 2006.

SENIOR DAY
Three Stanford seniors -- Brooke Bishop, Elizabeth Durot and Katie Lampe -- will be competing in their final home meet for Stanford versus California on Saturday, February 16 (1 pm, PT). Bishop ranks among Stanford's all-time Top 10 in seven events and is also a 13-time All-American and four-time Pac-10 champion. Durot is among Stanford's all-time Top 10 in three event, while earning two All-American honors and one Pac-10 title. Lampe has finished in the Top 10 at the Pac-10 Championships each of the last two seasons in 1-meter, 3-meter and platform

STANFORD RANKED NO. 2 IN MOST RECENT NATIONAL POLL
Stanford is ranked No. 2 in the most recent 2007-08 collegeswimming.com regular season dual meet poll. The Cardinal is behind only Georgia with Florida, Arizona, defending three-time national champions Auburn, Texas A&M, Tennessee, California, Minnesota and Virginia rounding out the Top 10. Last year, Stanford was the nation's top regular season dual meet team before finishing second at the Pac-10's and fourth at the NCAA's.

STANFORD AUTOMATIC NCAA QUALIFIERS
Julia Smit leads the way with seven individual NCAA "A" standards, while six other Cardinal swimmers and three relays have already earned their ticket to the 2008 NCAA Championships. Following is a list of Stanford swimmers in individual events and relay teams that have recorded NCAA 'A' standards during the 2007-08 campaign. The events they have recorded the NCAA 'A' time for as well as their top time and national ranking are also listed.

Individual Events
Name - Event (National Ranking, Time)
Brooke Bishop - 50 Free (#3, 22.37), 100 Free (#4, 48.70)
Elaine Breeden - 200 Fly (#1, 1:54.11), 100 Fly (#2, 52.70), 200 IM (#20T, 2:00.14)
Caroline Bruce - 200 Breast (#6, 2:11.53), 100 Breast (#9, 1:01.56), 200 IM (#17, 1:59.88)
Kate Dwelley - 200 Free (#6, 1:46.04), 100 Fly (#17T, 53.66), 100 Free (#22T, 49.34)
Fiona O'Donnell-McCarthy - 100 Free (#25, 49.39)
Julia Smit - 200 Back (#3, 1:54.39), 400 IM (#3, 4:06.95), 200 IM (#4, 1:56.65), 50 Free (#11, 22.65), 200 Free (#11, 1:46.69), 500 Free (#15, 4:45.03), 100 Back (#16T, 54.27)
Liz Smith - 200 Breast (#5, 2:01.29), 100 Breast (#28, 2:11.48)

Relays - National Ranking, Time
400 Free - Kate Dwelley, Julia Smit, Fiona O'Donnell-McCarthy, Brooke Bishop (#1, 3:15.29)
200 Free - Julia Smit, Fiona O'Donnell-McCarthy, Kate Dwelley, Brooke Bishop (#3, 1:30.18)
200 Medley - Julia Smit, Caroline Bruce, Elaine Breeden, Brooke Bishop (#4, 1:39.44)

STANFORD ALL-TIME TOP 10 PERFORMERS
Eight current Stanford swimmers rank among the school's all-time Top 10 performers. The names of the swimmers, along with the name of their event(s), ranking, short-course yards time and year of their performance are listed below (through meets of February 15, 2008).)
Individual Events)
Name - Event (National Ranking, Time, Year)
Andrea Axtell - 200 Back (#8, 1:56.80, 2006)
Elaine Breeden - 200 Fly (#1, 1:52.99, 2007), 200 Free Relay (#1, 1:29.40), 200 Medley Relay (#1, 1:37.71), 100 Fly (#2, 51.44, 2007), 200 IM (#4, 1:56.92, 2007)
Brooke Bishop - 200 Free Relay (#1, 1:29.40), 400 Free Relay (#1, 3:15.29), 200 Medley Relay (#1, 1:37.71), 100 Free (#2, 48.38, 2006)*, 50 Free (#3, 22.17, 2006/2007), 100 Back (#5, 53.49, 2007)*, 200 Back (#6, 1:56.11, 2006)
Caroline Bruce - 200 Medley Relay (#1, 1:37.71), 100 Breast (#2, 59.55, 2005), 200 Breast (#2, 2:08.67, 2005), 400 IM (#5, 4:10.31, 2005), 200 IM (#6, 1:57.66, 2005)
Elizabeth Durot - 500 Free (#4, 4:41.47, 2007), 1650 Free (#8, 16:12.97, 2005), 200 Free (#9, 1:46.84, 2005)*
Kate Dwelley - 400 Free Relay (#1, 3:15.29), 200 Free (#5, 1:46.04, 2007), 100 Free (#8, 49.34, 2007), 100 Fly (#10, 53.66, 2007)
Fiona O'Donnell-McCarthy - 200 Free Relay (#1, 1:29.40), 400 Free Relay (#1, 3:15.29), 200 Medley Relay (#1, 1:37.71), 100 Free (49.39, #10)
Julia Smit - 200 IM (#1, 1:55.38, 2007), 200 Free Relay (#1, 1:29.40), 400 Free Relay (#1, 3:15.29), 400 IM (#2, 4:04.02, 2007), 200 Back (#2, 1:53.39, 2007), 200 Free (#3, 1:45.41, 2007)*, 50 Free (#4, 22.39, 2007)*, 100 Back (#6, 53.77)*, 200 Breast (#9, 2:14.50, 2007), 100 Free (#10, 49.35, 2007)*
Liz Smith - 200 Breast (#5, 2:11.48, 2008), 100 Breast (#10, 1:02.36, 2008)
Laura Wadden - 200 Fly (#10, 1:58.23, 2007)
*Relay Split

AVERY AQUATIC CENTER RECORDS
50 Free - Brooke Bishop, Stanford (22.58, 2006)
100 Free - Natalie Coughlin, California (48.89, 2002)
200 Free - Stephanie Williams, Georgia (1:46.55, 2001)
500 Free - Janet Evans, Stanford (4:42.05, 1990)
1000 Free - Janet Evans, Stanford (9:30.69, 1990)
1650 Free - Jennifer Hooker, MVN (16:05.21, 1978)
100 Back - Hailey DeGolia, Arizona (53.76, 2008)
200 Back - Julia Smit, Stanford (1:55.66, 2008)
100 Breast - Tara Kirk, Stanford (59.74, 2002)
200 Breast - Agnes Kovacs, Arizona State (2:10.40, 2002)
100 Fly - Natalie Coughlin, California (52.35, 2002)
200 Fly - Limin Liu, Nevada (1:56.08, 1998)
200 IM - Julia Smit, Stanford (1:56.65, 2008)
400 IM - Summer Sanders, Stanford (4:08.52, 1992)
200 FR - Stanford - Smit, Breeden, O'Donnell-McCarthy, Bishop (1:32.18, 2006)
400 FR - Stanford - Dwelley, O'Donnell-McCarthy, Breeden, Bishop (3:20.06, 2008)
800 FR - Stanford - Smit, Bishop, Spence, Dwelley (7:17.08, 2007)
200 MR - Stanford - Ripple, T. Kirk, Boutwell, Watchorn (1:40.87, 2002)
400 MR - Arizona - DeGolia, Chandler, Agy, Nymeyer (3:37.45, 2008)
*All Records Short-Course Yards

FINAL TUNE-UP BEFORE CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON
Both Stanford and California will use Saturday's meet as a final tune-up before the championship portion of the season begins with the Pac-10 Championships from February 27 - March 1. The diving potion of the meet will start on February 28 and take place in Federal Way, WA, while the swimming will happen in Long Beach, CA. The divers will then compete at the NCAA Zone E Championships from March 13-15 in Oklahoma City, OK, where they will battle to qualify for the NCAA Championships, which will take place from March 20-22 in Columbus, OH. The Cardinal swimmers will all compete at home in the Stanford Grad Prix, April 3-6, as a tune-up for the upcoming 2008 Olympic Trials.

STANFORD WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING -- A HISTORY OF EXCELLENCE
• Stanford has won more NCAA team championships (8) than any other collegiate women's swimming program in the nation and also added an AIAW national title in 1980, the season before the NCAA began sponsoring a national championship • Stanford has also finished second twice (1999, 2001) and third (2000, '02) two other times at the NCAA Championships since its most recent national title in 1998 • Stanford moved up one spot to fourth at the 2007 NCAA Championships after having finished fifth at the event in each of the three previous campaigns (2004-06) • The Cardinal has finished among the nation's top eight in each of the first 33 years of the program's history from the 1974-75 season through the 2006-07 campaign and has never placed lower than sixth in any of the 25 NCAA Championships, including a string of 26 straight top thee national finishes from 1976-2002 • Stanford has won 16 of the 21 Pac-10 Championships since the event began in 1987 (1987-99, 2002, 2004-05) and was second in 2007 • Stanford has an all-time dual meet record of 260-24 (.915) • Stanford has been unbeaten in regular season dual meets 14 times with the most recent occasion its 10-0 record in 2006-07 • Stanford has a current string of 11 straight dual meet victories • Stanford has never lost more than two dual meets in a season with the program in its 33rd season of existence

HEAD COACH LEA MAURER
Lea Maurer is in her third season as the head coach of the Stanford women's swimming and diving program in 2007-08. Maurer has a 29-3 (.906) all-time dual meet record both at Stanford and as a collegiate head coach. Maurer has coached 11 swimmers and divers for a combined total of 42 All-American honors in her first two seasons.

Maurer has started her third season in 2007-08 with six victories in the team's first seven meets and is just one win away (Califronia, February 16) from wrapping up a second consecutive unbeaten campaign in Pac-10 dual meets. The Cardinal started 2007-08 with victories over San Jose State and Washington before falling now top-ranked Georgia to end a string of 12 straight dual meet victories. The Cardinal then wrapped up its fall schedule with a second-place showing at the Texas Invitiational and has been strong since returning to action in January with four consecutive Pac-10 victories over Arizona State, Arizona, UCLA and USC.

The 2006-07 squad finished fourth at the NCAA Championships for its highest finish since taking third also in 2001-02 and was second at the Pac-10 Championships. Stanford had 12 swimmers and divers combine for 28 All-American honors. The Cardinal was 10-0 in the dual meet season to earn a top ranking from collegeswimming.com. The unbeaten mark was the first for the Cardinal since 2001-02.

In her first season in 2005-06, Maurer led the Cardinal to a fifth place finish at the NCAA Championships, a third place showing at the Pac-10's and a 13-2 overall regular season dual meet record that set a school record for regular season dual meet wins. Maurer had seven swimmers and divers combine for 14 All-American showings.

A former Stanford swimmer, Maurer took the reigns of Stanford's nationally prominent program in May of 2005. The former Lea Loveless, who was officially inducted into the Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame on November 3, 2006, swam on three national championship squads (1992, '93, '94) when she competed on The Farm from 1991-94. Maurer won 10 NCAA individual and relay titles during her collegiate swimming career, including three consecutive wins in the 100 back (1992, '93, '94) as well as a 200 back victory in 1993. She was also a member of six winning NCAA relay teams. Maurer added 15 Pac-10 titles (seven individual, eight relays) and 21 All-American honors (19 at Stanford) to her collegiate swimming resume. She was a member of 400 (1993) and 800 (1992) free relay teams that set school records that still stand today. In addition, Maurer is still second on Stanford's all-time list of performers in the 100 and 200 back, as well as ninth in the 200 individual medley. She continued to compete until 2000, spending a total of 11 years (1989-96, 1998-2000) on the USA National Team. Maurer held the American record in the 100 meter backstroke from 1992-2001, originally setting the mark on the leadoff leg of a gold medal 4x100 American medley relay team at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and breaking her own record during the prelims of a winning performance at the 1998 World Championships. Maurer, who was also a bronze medalist in the 100 back at the 1992 Olympics, earned a spot on the USA Swimming All-Century team for the 20th century in the event.

After finishing her collegiate swimming career at Stanford following the 1993-94 campaign, she started in the coaching profession as an assistant at Northwestern for a program that placed 11th at the NCAA's and third in the Big 10 in 1995. The following year, she began a prep dynasty as the head boys' and girls' coach at Lake Forest High School (Lake Forest, IL), leading the boys' squad to the 2002-03 mythical National Championship and the girls' team to the mythical 2003 Public School National Championship. She coached 2003 National High School Swimmer of the Year Matt Grevers, who recorded the second-fastest prep time ever in the 50 free and went on to win the NCAA title in the 100 back as a sophomore at Northwestern in 2005.

Maurer ventured into the international coaching scene as an assistant for the 2007 Pan American Games team.

She is the sixth head coach of a Stanford program that began in 1974 and has won more NCAA Division I team titles (8) than any other collegiate women's swimming and diving program in the nation.