TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Arizona State women's swimming team, sophomore diver Mara Aiacoboae and the men's diving squad travel to Federal Way, Wash. for the Pac-12 Swimming and Diving Championships.
The events begin Wednesday, Feb. 24 and finish on Saturday, Feb. 27 at the the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center.
"I expect them to swim their season best times," said swimming head coach Bob Bowman, who enters his first Pac-12 Championship at the helm for the Sun Devils. "And if they do that and they improve at a rate that I think they can, we can qualify some people for NCAA's -- which is the other goal for the weekend."
Wednesday evening features the women's 200 medley relay and the 800 freestyle relay -- both of which have been focused on throughout practice this week.
"I think the relays are what we are most concerned about because I think that's our best chance to qualify some people for nationals," said Bowman.
Several of the women participating in the relays will be looked upon to propel the Sun Devils to their ultimate goal, as well as individually. With a smaller roster than most, Bowman knows it will take truly a team effort from all of the women, but he singled out several in particular.
"Ingibjorg (Jonsdottir) has been swimming really well, and actually, they've all been training really well," Bowman said. "I'm looking forward to seeing what Marlies Ross does being just her third short-course meet. She's got a big learning curve, but she's been training well and should be competitive in her events.
"I think Kat is one that we're really looking for at NCAA's. I think she might have already qualified with the time she's done, and if not, I definitely think she'll do that this weekend. And she's a huge part of those relays. So just seeing her take that next step in her time progression towards her ultimate goal is what we're after."
As for the divers, big things are also expected from head coach Mark Bradshaw.
His only female diver, Aiacoboae, will be on short rest heading into the Pac-12 Championships. She will be returning from the FINA Diving World Cup in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
"This is going to be a real test for her," Bradshaw said. "She has to rebound mentally and a little physically because she has a 24-hour travel day to get here to compete. Her goals for the season are intact."
The men -- sophomores David Hoffer and Heikki Makikallio and senior Hunter Atha -- are all within striking distance of a conference championship as well.
"David has been on a roll with his diving," Bradshaw said. "The biggest thing for him is being consistent and eliminating the errors. People are going to come away surprised from this championship. He doesn't do a heavy degree of difficulty with his dives, but when he does his dives well, they're really impressive.
"Hunter, our senior, made finals off platform and we expect him to do that again. Heikki has been doing really well on platform and springboard too. I'm hoping for him to challenge for a title in platform."
TV coverage of the event will air tape delayed on the days of Feb. 26-28 at 10 a.m. PT/11 a.m. MT on Pac-12 Network.