By Greg Hansen
Arizona Daily Star

Swimming World magazine predicts Arizona will win the NCAA women's championship this week and the national title in men's swimming next week.

"A chance of reign for the Arizona Wildcats," the magazine cleverly suggests.

That is unimaginable. Two national titles over the next 12 days? And it is not just a maverick swimming publication trying to draw attention to itself.

Swimming's other periodical of note � Splash � also predicts UA to win the men's and women's NCAA titles.

In a sport long dominated by Auburn, Georgia and Stanford, the across-the-board forecast of an Arizona sweep is as unexpected as it is daring. This news does not appear to faze UA coach Frank Busch, who has enjoyed (and thrived) as the Gonzaga of college swimming, an off-Broadway coach working out of a pint-sized facility, who has produced star upon star, challenging for NCAA titles in both sports since 1995.

"Nope," he said, asked if he paid attention to pre-meet predictions. "Doesn't mean a thing." Busch packed his bags for 12 days when he left Tucson on Monday. He will first coach his women's team in Athens, Ga., this weekend, then drive a few hours to Atlanta where he will settle in for next week's men's championships at Georgia Tech.

Over the last decade, Busch's women's teams have finished in the top four on six occasions, and twice was second (1998, 2000). His men's team was No. 3 last season and No. 4 a year earlier. The Wildcats have been on the doorstep for 10 years, on tiptoes, eyes closed, waiting for that first kiss. And now we are told there is the possibility of back-to-back smooches.

"Shoot," said the understated Busch, "we always go to the nationals thinking we'll do well. The difference this year is that there isn't a dominant team."

Arizona is the trendy choice, times two, but the Wildcats are neither deep nor without distractions. This week UA Olympic veterans Simon Burnett and Lyndon Ferns are in Melbourne, Australia, competing in the Commonwealth Games. They will fly from Australia to Atlanta fighting jet lag as well as the NCAA's premier men's swimmers.

"Arizona definitely has a legitimate chance to win a national title, on both sides," said Phil Whitten, Swimming World's chief media officer and longtime chronicler of college swimming. "But I think they are a long shot to win both. I think it would be more likely for Arizona to finish second in both, or third."

Busch's women's team is essentially the Magnificent Six.

Lacey Nymeyer, Courtney Cashion, Whitney Myers, Erin Sieper, Marshi Smith and Jenna Gresdal have either finished in the top two in NCAA events, or are ranked in the top two this year.

Myers, a junior from the Cincinnati area, and Nymeyer, a sophomore from Mountain View High School, are probably among the 10 best female collegiate swimmers in terms of versatility and point production. Both will swim in seven events this week.

The strategy of a college swimming championship is much more complicated than you might think. Busch, for example, believes his team could win two relay events and contend in the other two. Relays count double in the NCAA scoring system: 40 points for the winner. Individual events are capped at 20 points. So Arizona will stock its relays with Nymeyer, Cashion, Myers, Smith, Sieper and Gresdal, mixing and matching as they go, hopeful it can generate the 450 to 475 points it takes to win a national championship. He is also hopeful that he does not burn off his swimmers' energy. "You haven't seen the best of our relay teams yet," Busch said. "They are very good."

Georgia's Jack Baurele, whose team has won four of the last seven women's titles, told reporters that his team is not the favorite and declined to appoint one. Instead, he suggested that the eventual winner will be required to have the best week of its life.

"You will see some American records set," Baurele said. "Basically, you will see some of the fastest swims ever on U.S. soil."

Arizona has not won a national championship in any sport since 2001, coming agonizingly close in softball, volleyball, basketball, men's golf and, of course, men's and women's swimming.

Not that Busch is impatient or desperate, but his recall of Arizona's last NCAA runner-up in 2000 remains sharp. Georgia beat Arizona 490-472.

"We lost by 18 points," Busch said. "We needed one or two more things to happen to win the title. We'll need one or two more things to happen this year, too."

Reprinted with Permission from the Arizona Daily Star