Swimming and Diving Ready for SEC Championships
2/16/2015 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
AUBURN, Ala. - What a difference a year makes.
At this point in 2014, the Alabama swimming and diving men's and women's teams headed into the Southeastern Conference Championships with a lot of hope. Five days and 17 school records later, the Crimson Tide men and women knew that they'd reached new rungs on the conference ladder.
"One of our captains told me recently that a year ago, they were hoping that all the hard work, the training and the dedication would pay off," head coach Dennis Pursley, now in his third season at the Tide's helm said. "Now they know it will."
Alabama and the rest of the conference will get things underway at the 2015 SEC Championships Tuesday in Auburn, Ala., and while the Crimson Tide has continued to improve after a breakout season a year ago, they aren't the only ones.
"We're better than we were a year ago, we're farther along than we were going into SECs last year," Pursley said. "But so is the rest of the conference. It never gets easier, you just have to keep pounding away."
Last year, in addition to bettering a number of individual school records at the SEC Championships, Alabama's men broke all five relay marks, including the 200 freestyle relay, where the men were second. Despite losing All-American BJ Hornikel and Vlad Caciuc from that relay, Alabama could be faster this season with sophomore All-American Kristian Gkolomeev, the defending NCAA 50 freestyle champion, coming into the weekend as the league's No. 1 seed in the 50.
The 200 freestyle relay also returns junior All-American Brett Walsh who has already posted a career-best time in the 50 this season. There will be several swimmers vying for the final two legs on the freestyle relays, including sophomores Alex Gray and All-American Connor Oslin as well as junior Abbas Qali.
Alabama's top individual finisher at last year's SEC Championships, sophomore All-American Anton McKee is back to defend his 200 breaststroke title, despite being sidelined early in the season after breaking his collarbone during the summer.
On the women's side of the slate, the Tide broke three relay marks at the 2014 SEC Championships - the 200 and 400 medley relays and the 200 freestyle relay. This year, led by junior Emma Saunders who bettered her own 200 freestyle and backstroke school records in the fall, Alabama has already broken the school 400 freestyle relay. Saunders was joined by freshman Temarie Tomley, junior Justine Panian and sophomore Bailey Scott.
Senior All-American Kaylin Burchell is on track to lead the Tide women once again. The USA National Team member broke the school record previously held by Olympic bronze medalist Anna Poleska on her way to finishing third in the 100 breaststroke at last year's SEC Championships. Burchell will also be key to the Tide's medley relays.
Last time Auburn hosted the SEC Championships in 2009, the men posted a fifth place finish, while the women finished in sixth. This year's championships open Tuesday with the men's 1-meter springboard and the women's 3-meter springboard as well as the men's and women's 200 medley and 800 freestyle relays. Diving prelims start at 11 a.m. and finals get underway at 5:30 p.m. while the relays get underway at 6 p.m.
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Players Mentioned
