Teams: UC Davis at UC Santa Barbara
Where: Campus Pool – Santa Barbara, Calif.
When: Saturday at noon
Who to watch: After redshirting last season to compete as an open swimmer, junior Scott Weltz is back in the pool wearing Aggie blue and ready to take on UCSB.
The San Jose, Calif. native currently holds eight school records, including six individual records: the 500-, 1,000- and 1,650-yard freestyles, as well as the 200 breastroke, 200 IM and 400 IM.
Weltz has won all three of his distance events in Big West Conference competition, making him a huge threat to the Gauchos.
He’s currently nationally ranked as the seventh-best 400 IM swimmer with a time of 3:45.87.
Did you know? Weltz used his open 2008 season to train for the U.S. Olympic Trials. He qualified for four events.
Preview: The Aggie men resume their season with their first dual of 2009 this weekend against the Gauchos.
Last season, UC Davis lost the dual by a slim seven-point difference to UCSB, who then went on to capture the Big West title.
The Aggies look prepared as the men are currently laying claim to the Big West leaderboard, leading eight of the 18 events in the conference so far this season.
Not to be outdone, UCSB currently holds on to six events in the conference; however, UC Davis is closing in on four of those events.The men are 4-0 in conference duals and 6-2 overall.
The women’s team is also traveling to Santa Barbara this weekend.
The women will be going against the four-time Big West champs, who currently hold 13 top times in the conference.
The events to watch on the women’s side will be the IM and breaststroke, as UCSB holds the top three breast swimmers in the conference. Those three will be facing off against junior Heidi Kucera, current 200 IM record holder.
– Andrea Gutierrez
