CSUN Swim Teams 2nd in CCAA Meet

Rarely are different training methods as obvious as they were Thursday, the first day of the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. swim championships at Cal State Bakersfield.

Cal State Northridge team members looked almost hirsute in contrast to the shaven and shorn bodies of Bakersfield and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo swimmers.

So what was this hairdo to-do all about?

A couple of swim championships, that’s what. And Northridge’s disregard for one in order to enhance its chance at winning the other.

Northridge Coach Pete Accardy has swimmers train throughout the CCAA meet in order to have them at peak form for the Division II championships in two weeks. They don’t taper their workouts and they don’t shave.

And if that means Northridge comes home without a conference title, so be it.

Bakersfield, San Luis Obispo, UC Riverside and Cal State Los Angeles all shave and taper for the CCAA meet.

The results after the first day, then, were predictable.

Northridge is second in both the men’s and women’s standings.

Bakersfield’s men’s team, led by a record-breaking performance by Richard Graves, leads the Matadors, 154-79, and San Luis Obispo’s women’s team leads Northridge, 161-131.

Graves’ victory came in the 200-yard medley relay, which was the day’s most competitive race. The top five finishers all swam faster than the Division II qualifying standard for the nationals. Graves’ time of 1:52.73 was more than a second faster than the old conference meet record.

Jeff Kubiak of the Northridge, who holds the Division II record in the event, finished third at 1:55.88--more than four seconds slower than he swam in winning the national championship last year.