Swimming and Diving Takes on Auburn Starting Friday
11/20/2008 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
Nov. 20, 2008
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama swimmers and divers are in different locales this weekend, but facing a common and familiar opponent.
The swimmers host the Auburn Tigers in a two-day, three-session event Friday and Saturday at the Alabama Aquatic Center while the divers travel to Atlanta, Ga. where they will also see Auburn, among others, at the Georgia Tech Invitational.
For the swimmers, this weekend will be a change of pace from a typical dual meet. The competition schedule will mimic the NCAA Championships and the races will be held over a 50-meter course, the same setup used at the Olympic Games, instead of the 25-yard course typically used for collegiate competitions.
"This should be an interesting weekend, swimming long course and competing over three different sessions," McIlquham said. "We hosted a long course meet last year and posted some really good times. It's good to change things up every once in a while, and it's also a chance to take a shot at some NCAA qualifying cuts and get up for some great races. It's going to be a great competition all the way around."
The swimmers get things started with two sessions on Friday, starting at noon and 6 p.m. and finish things off with one session on Saturday, starting at 10 a.m. The divers go one event each day, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The diving gets underway at 12 p.m. ET on Friday and Saturday and at 11 a.m. ET on Sunday.
There will be several races in Tuscaloosa that promise to be tightly contested. On the men's side, the Tide and Tigers match up very well in the distance freestyle, breaststroke and butterfly events. The women's top battles will come in the breaststroke, butterfly and IM events.
The divers will compete one event each day. The men start with the one-meter board on Friday, progress to the three-meter on Saturday and finish off with the platform on Sunday. The women will start off the three-meter, move to the one-meter and finish off on the platform.
Junior Aaron Fleshner will try and extend his winning streak on the three-meter board while freshman Carrie Dragland, who has won seven of eight events this season, will try to keep the victories coming in Atlanta.
Players Mentioned
