[media-credit name=’UW Athletic Communications’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]The No. 8 Wisconsin women’s swimming and diving team (10-1 overall, 5-0 in Big Ten) is looking to claim their first conference title this weekend at the Big Ten Championships in Bloomington, Indiana. The Badgers are the top-ranked team entering the four-day meet, but face fierce competition from rivals Michigan and Penn State.

Head coach Eric Hansen plans to use this meet as preparation for the NCAA Championships in March. So far the Badgers have qualified six swimmers for the national meet, but will attempt to add a few more this weekend.

“We look at Big Tens as a preparation for the real meet, the NCAA Championships,” Hansen said. “We will have full preparation [for the Big Ten Championships] with a portion of the girls, but the majority of the girls who have already qualified for the NCAA Championships will be swimming through this meet. That’s not to stay that we are not going to be competitive, but at the same time we want to leave a little something for the meet that is our priority.”

Competition begins Wednesday night with the 800-yard freestyle relay and 200-yard medley relay. The 800-free relay is arguably the Badger’s most dominant event, as they have claimed four out of the last five conference titles. The world record holder in that same event, Carly Piper, will be one of four Wisconsin swimmers in the hunt for yet another relay title. The Badgers have the No. 1 seed by six seconds going into timed finals Wednesday evening.

Thursday features two more highly competitive events for the Badgers, the 500-yard free and 200-individual medley. Piper will be looking to claim her fourth Big Ten title in the 500-yard freestyle. With a win, she would become the second Wisconsin swimmer and second Big Ten swimmer to claim four titles in the event. A UW swimmer has won the race every year since 1998.

“This meet means a lot to me because it’s my last year,” Piper said. “I really want to swim fast and help my teammates as much as I can. It should be a lot of fun. I’d like to continue the win streak … it’s been a good three years and hopefully it will be a good four years.”

In the 200-yard individual medley, junior Anna Trinidad will be attempting to claim her first conference title. She took second at the meet by just .01 seconds her freshman year in the event. Trinidad currently holds the No.1 spot, followed by teammates Andrea Wiesner, seeded No. 2, and Amalia Sarnecki, seeded No. 4.

“[Anna] is ready to go faster than she has ever gone,” Hansen said. “We can’t control what other people are going to do, but I think she’ll be swimming extremely fast and that is all I can hope for.”

The Badgers will be looking to go five for five in individual swim competition Friday. Four UW swimmers currently hold the top spots. Sophomore Susan Johnson leads the way with two No.1 seeds. Johnson is seeded first in the 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard backstroke. With a win in the 100-backstroke, she would become the first Badger swimmer to capture the conference title in the event.

“Susan will be on,” Hansen said. “I don’t worry about Susan Johnson at all. She has already done some things that I think speak volumes of what she is capable of.”

Also Friday, Piper is seeded first in the 200-yard free, an event she has already won on two occasions. Sarnecki holds the top spot in the 100-yard breaststroke and will be looking for her first Big Ten title in the event, despite a broken hand.

“Amalia’s main priority is NCAAs,” Hansen said. “We will just see how she can compete this weekend. She is a tough girl and races well. I’m not too worried about her hand.”

Trinidad will have another shot at a conference title in the 400-yard individual medley. She is ranked No.1 over her opponents by almost two seconds.
The final day of competition holds vast importance for the Badgers. Piper will be looking to claim her fourth consecutive Big Ten title in the mile, something no Big Ten swimmer has previously achieved. Johnson and Sarnecki will both be in search of their second consecutive conference titles — Johnson in the 200-yard backstroke and Sarnecki in the 200-yard breaststroke. Junior Sarah Hernandez is also in pursuit of a Big Ten title in the 100-yard freestyle, an event she finished second in two years ago.

Rounding out competition is platform diving, where juniors Amanda Witte and Cassie Kubly are both expected to contribute much needed points for the Badgers.

In the end, the Badgers hope to finish on top of the conference for the first time in school history en-route to qualifying more swimmers to the NCAA Championships.

“We will have some surprise girls make it [to the NCAA Championships] I think,” Hansen said.

Last year the Badgers finished fourth despite six individual conference titles. Wisconsin has placed as high as second twice in its history, in 2003 and 1996.