Divers Start New Year with Georgia Diving Invitational
1/2/2010 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
Jan. 2, 2010
ATHENS, Ga - The Alabama divers are back in action starting tomorrow, beginning the new year with the three-day Georgia Diving Invitational and Shootout in Athens, Ga.
"Having a meet in Athens before the postseason should be an advantage for our divers down the road," head coach Eric McIlquham said. "Not only will it be another meet against strong competition, but they will dive in the same facility that will host the SEC Championships and the NCAA Zone B Diving Championships later this month."
The springboard prelims will start at 11 a.m. ET Sunday and Monday with the finals slated for approximately 1:45 p.m. ET and a shootout for the top six divers at 6 p.m. ET. On Tuesday, the divers will compete in one round on the platform.
The format for the shootout portion of the meet is relatively unique in collegiate diving with each diver doing a dive of their choice. The competitor with the lowest score from each round is eliminated until a winner is declared.
In addition to host Georgia, the Tide is slated to see SEC foes Auburn, Florida, LSU and Tennessee, as well as Clemson, North Carolina, Virginia, Navy, Iowa State, Penn State, Rider, Drexel, SMU and East Carolina.
For the divers it has been a relatively short break from competition after finishing off 2009 with the UA-hosted Christmas Invitational in late December. The Crimson Tide swimmers have also been busy and are currently in the midst of their second training camp since final exams for the fall semester in early December. Alabama's swimmers had a week-long training camp in Florida before Christmas and after a short holiday break, returned to Tuscaloosa for the current training camp.
Both the swimmers and divers return to action on Jan. 16 when the Kentucky Wildcats come to Tuscaloosa for a dual meet in the Alabama Aquatic Center.
