UA swimmers Andrea Boritzke, left, and Caitlin Iversen get a big hug from Becky Bell at the Jim Click Hall of Champions in 2008 after winning the program's first NCAA national championship.
Arizona's Lara Jackson takes her mark with the other swimmers as she prepares to race in the 100 freestyle during a multi-team meet at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center in 2008.
UA swimming coach Frank Busch holds his seven-week-old granddaughter, Tori Busch, as he introduces 2008 Olympic swimmers Matt Grevers and former UA All-American Lacey Nymeyer in 2008.
The talent and depth needed to win an NCAA swimming championship is, as Arizona coach Frank Busch said in 2008, βoff the hook.β
There are 13 individual events, three diving events and five relays. To become a national champion, a team must hope to score at least 450 points.
Nobody just gets lucky.
When Arizona won the 2008 womenβs national title, the Wildcats became the first team in history to win all five relay events. Thatβs 40 points per event, or 200 points.
βWhen I think of winning all five of those relays, itβs just mind-boggling,β Busch says now. βNothing can go wrong. Nobody can have an off night. Beyond that, the competition is so difficult that winning all five just doesnβt seem possible.β
But in March 2008 in Columbus, Ohio, Arizonaβs five relay teams won βem all. The Wildcats scored 484 points to defeat defending national champion Auburn by 136 points. The one word that fit the occasion: Historic.
βDeep down,β Busch said that night. βI always felt weβd win one. History moves on to other competitions, but our names will always be down as champions.β
Hereβs how it went:
400 freestyle relay: Lacey Nymeyer, Anna Turner, Lara Jackson and Taylor Baughman finished first.
400 medley relay: Annie Chandler, Hailey DeGoila, Ana Agy and Nymeyer finished first.
200 freestyle relay: Nymeyer, Turner, Jackson and Baughman finished first.
200 medley relay: DeGoila, Chandler, Jackson and Turner finished first.
That was 200 of the 484 points Arizona scored. The remaining 284 came in bunches: Nymeyer won the 50 free and finished second in the 200 free. Jackson won the 50 free. DeGoila finished second in the 200 back and third in the 100 fly.
The Wildcats were so deep that swimmers named Ana, Annie, Anna and Andrea combined to score 87 points. Nymeyer alone scored 52.
Nymeyer, a senior from Mountain View High School, the top female swimmer in Tucson history, was overjoyed. A year earlier, the Wildcats finished No. 2 at the NCAAs β they led by 32 points entering the final of three days of competition β and the hurt lingered.
βBeing a senior, seeing the years leading up to this, seeing the steps weβve made, itβs so special,β she told me. βI couldnβt stop crying. We couldnβt stop hugging people. It was by far the best feeling Iβve ever had.β
Busch, whose team was ranked No. 4 entering the NCAA finals, had coached the UA womenβs teams to 17 consecutive top-10 finishes. The Wildcats finished No. 2 in 2007, 2000 and 1998. They finished No. 3 in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
βOver the years when I watch championship teams go to the podium, I think, βWhat would it be like?ββ he said.
Now he knows. (A week later, Busch coached the UA menβs swimming team the NCAA championship).
At the start of the 2009 season, the UA swimming media guide published memoirs of the those returning from the womenβs β08 team.
Wrote Ana Agy, of Park City, Utah: βI will never forget winning Arizonaβs first swimming and diving championship, at Ohio State. Thinking about how we sang βBear Downβ before we received our trophy still gives me chills today.β
Wrote Annie Chandler of San Antonio, Texas: βWatching our girls dominate in the 800 free relay from Lane 8 is frozen in my mind. It was utter chaos in the bleachers after Coach Busch told us we had something special going on. Jessica Embick started crying, she was so ecstatic as Baughman touched the wall to establish a new NCAA record in an event we were seeded 8th in. The shock and joy seen on my teammates and coachesβ faces is a memory that will never fade.β
Wrote Hailey DeGoila of South Africa: βI knew I was going to Arizona when we went to Coach Buschβs house on my recruiting trip. Thatβs when I saw how tight the team was, and how they all acted like a big family. Team unity was really what drew me here.β
Wrote Justine Schluntz of Albuquerque: βComing into my freshman year, I had no idea what I was getting into. I had chosen Arizona because I knew it had a great history of making swimmers faster. My goals were purely individual goals and I had no concept of βteam.β As my freshman year began, I realized that the team culture was so overwhelming that there was no way to ignore it.β
A year later, Arizona finished No, 3 at the NCAA finals, followed in 2010 by a No. 4 finish. After finishing fifth at the 2011 finals, Busch resigned to become director of USA Swimmingβs national and Olympic teams.
Arizona has not finished in the NCAAβs βFinal Fourβ since.
Photos: 2008 University of Arizona men's and women's swimming and diving