Alabama Swimming & Diving Opens SEC Slate vs. Georgia Friday at the Birmingham CrossPlex

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Three weeks after opening the collegiate swimming and diving season with the first dual meet in the nation, Alabama opens the 2019-20 Southeastern Conference schedule Friday with a dual meet against Georgia at the Birmingham CrossPlex starting at 12 p.m. CT.

The Crimson Tide is coming off decisive wins over Delta State, while the Bulldogs are opening their season against Alabama. The UA men finished last year ranked seventh nationally while Georgia was 18^th. On the women's side of the slate, UGA was 18^th and the Tide was 34^th at the 2019 NCAA Championships. The two teams last met during the 2014-15 regular season, with Georgia picking up a pair of home wins in Athens.

The Crimson Tide women will continue their SEC schedule on Saturday, traveling to Nashville, Tenn., to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores at 10 a.m.

Head Coach Coley Stickels Said

"This is a great early season test for our team. We got things rolling early with the Delta State meet, which gave us a good idea of where we were right at the start of our training cycle, but now we're set to open conference competition against a very good Georgia team. We're going to be tested and I'm looking forward to seeing how we respond. We're in the middle of our heavy training right now and we're not slowing down for dual meets, but at the same time, we have a mindset that we're going to compete as hard as we can every time we step up on the blocks."

The 2019-20 Season

Alabama opened the season with wins at Delta State on Sept. 13, with the men taking a 186-109 victory and the women outscoring DSU 204-91
The Crimson Tide won 27 out of 32 events against Delta State, with the women winning 14 events and the men taking 13, while combining to sweep the top-two spots in 23 events, including all four relays
Four UA rookies earned wins in their Crimson Tide debuts, including Cam Auerbach (200 freestyle), Liam Bell (100 breaststroke and 200 individual medley), Tanesha Lucoe (1-meter and 3-meter springboard) and Morgan Scott (50 and 200 freestyle)

Up Next

Following the Georgia meet, Alabama's women continue on to Nashville, Tenn., to take on SEC foe Vanderbilt, while the men return to Tuscaloosa (the Commodores only field a women's team)
After opening the season with back-to-back (or in the women's case, back-to-back-to-back) dual meets, Alabama returns to action with the Georgia Tech Invitational Nov. 22-24 in Atlanta, Ga.
Alabama closes the fall semester with a pair of trips to Auburn, Ala., taking on the Tigers in a dual meet on Dec. 5, before returning Dec. 17-19 for the Auburn Diving Invite

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