If you asked most women's swim teams whether they would be satisfied by a fifth-place finish in the 2004 NCAA Championships, the answer could be a resounding yes. This is not the case for Stanford, though. The Cardinal have been disappointed by their sixth- and fifth-place finishes in the last two years and are working very hard to raise their performance to a higher level.

This is understandable when you take into account Stanford's unprecedented eight national titles in 21 seasons, including five straight in the 1990s. Since then the team has been struggling to regain that kind of success.

Head coach Richard Quick believes that this year his squad has a chance to return to the top three at nationals and maybe even break into the top two, though Georgia and Auburn seem to be the frontrunners at this point in the season.

"They look like they're out of reach for everybody," Quick said. "I would say that, if we swim well, we could be in a battle for about third. If either one of those top two teams falters a bit, and we could have a lights-out meet, maybe we can knock somebody off."

This team is looking at this point like one of the strongest that Stanford has memory fielded in recent memory. A strong squad of veterans return from last year, having lost only three members to graduation. Seven freshmen, including an Olympian, a few high school All-Americans and several top-notch talents, join them.

Senior captain Lacey Boutwell praised the progress that the freshmen and the entire squad have made in training so far.

"[The freshmen come in] with great qualifications, and they are all going to add a lot to our team," Boutwell said. "We have one Olympian in the freshman class; we have national champions. We've got everything."

Returning Olympic medalist junior Dana Kirk agrees with this assessment, noting that "all our girls are national qualifiers, which is amazing."

The freshmen also bring an infectious, youthful excitement to the veterans.

"Our freshmen class is very enthused about swimming, very enthused about improving and very enthused about our team," Quick said. "I think it's rubbing off on everybody."

With senior captains Boutwell, Sarah Jones and Amy Wagner, and Olympians Kirk, Kristen Caverly and freshman Caroline Bruce, the incoming athletes are joining a solid group of upperclassmen. These six are all likely to make a big impact on the team beyond simply posting consistently high scores. The group contains top performers in each of the strokes at several distances, so their experiences and successes will be spread out throughout competitions.

But even more important than just performing consistently, according to Quick, the Olympic trio brings its confidence to the team.

"They have a level of confidence [where] they know they are going to do well, and everyone else gets infected with that a little bit," Quick said.

With the strength of their returning athletes and the new freshmen, and the effect of having three Olympians leading the way, Stanford looks to be in a great position to dominate in the Pacific-10 Conference this year.

The Cardinal have a history of success in the Pac-10, claiming the top or second spot every year since 1988, with the exception of a fourth-place finish in 2001. The 2001 team, however, went on to take the second spot at nationals.

The six-woman diving team is also looking forward to a successful season.

Its leaders are senior Ashlee Rosenthal and sophomore Cassidy Krug, both of whom are strong contenders for the national championship. Rosenthal finished fourth and sixth in the 1- and 3-meter springboard competitions, respectively, at the national championships in 2004, and has steadily improved in the offseason. Krug finished in eighth place at the U.S. Olympic Trials this year and has been training well.

The supporting roster includes All-American Sara Bowling along with Erin Lashnits, Brooke Sullivan and Katie Lampe.

"[Rosenthal and Krug] are very nationally oriented," said head diving coach Dr. Rick Schavone. "[The others] are in the process of becoming [nationally oriented]. Basically either one of them could win."

The heights that this year's divers can reach depend partly on their international competitors in the NCAA.

Schavone points out that several of the top divers took off last year's college season to train for the Olympics. If these divers do not return for this season, Stanford athletes have a strong chance of bringing home the national title.

Even if they do compete, Schavone predicts a top-four finish for one or both of Stanford's top duo. He also hopes that if the other four members of the team continue to improve as they have been, one of them will be able to join Rosenthal and Krug at the national championships.

The swimmers and divers have three competitions apiece before taking a break in December. The swim team will compete in Hawaii on Saturday, in Texas the following weekend and at the Speedo Cup in Long Beach Nov. 18-20.

The diving team will attend the same meets in Hawaii and Texas, and then travel to the Trojan Invite at Southern California Nov. 5 and 6.

There is one more preseason meet in January before the start of the Pac-10 season Jan. 21. The season culminates with the NCAA Championships in Indiana in mid-March.