Alabama Swimming and Diving Heads to Auburn for Thursday Dual Meet

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Less than two weeks after a strong showing at the Georgia Tech Invitational, the Alabama swimming and diving team returns to action Thursday, taking on the Auburn Tigers in Auburn, Ala.

The meet gets underway at 2:30 p.m. at the James E. Martin Aquatic Center on the Auburn campus.

It will be the third dual meet for the Crimson Tide men and the fourth for the Crimson Tide women and the first for either since the first week of October. The Tigers last meet came at the Wolfpack Invite the week before Thanksgiving.

The Crimson Tide and Tigers last met in dual meet competition last season, with Alabama winning the men's meet in Tuscaloosa. The Tide women beat the Tigers during the 2017-18 season, the last time the meet was in Auburn. Both teams come into the meet with new leadership within the last 18 months. Coley Stickels became Alabama's head coach last April, while the Tiger's Gary Taylor began his AU tenure in April 2018.

The Crimson Tide comes into Thursday's showdown sporting a dozen swims that rank in the top-10 nationally this season, while the Tigers lay claim to four.

Head Coach Coley Stickels Says

"Any time you compete in this conference it's exciting and it's bound to be a big-time meet and that's especially true any time Alabama and Auburn get together. The timing of this meet is a little unusual, coming right after our winter invitational, but at Alabama, no matter what the circumstances or when it falls in our training cycle, we want to go out and compete as hard as we can."

National Top-10

The Crimson Tide has 12 combined swims that rank in the top-10 nationally heading into the Auburn meet
Senior Zane Waddell posted the fastest time in the nation, going 20.91 in the 50 backstroke in Atlanta, making him the only swimmer this season under 21 seconds
Waddell is also ranked third nationally in the 50 freestyle with a career-best 19.15, fourth in the 100 backstroke with a 45.46 and eighth in the 100 freestyle with a 42.76 in Atlanta
Sophomore Kensey McMahon is still ranked No. 1 in the 1,000 freestyle with her 9:42.96 from the UA-UGA dual meet at the start of October, while her 16:03.38 in the 1,650 freestyle, the fourth-fastest mile in UA history, ranks her eighth in the nation
Sophomore Rhyan White is ranked No. 2 in the 200 backstroke with her school-record 1:50.00
White is also third in the 100 backstroke (51.12), fifth in the 50 backstroke (23.96) and ninth in the 100 butterfly (51.71)
White's school record 1:55.78 in the 200 butterfly is just outside the top-10 nationally at No. 11
Junior Flora Molnar used a school record in the 100 freestyle (47.98) to rank ninth nationally, while her career-best 51.80 in the 100 butterfly is 10th

Up Next

While the Alabama swimmers are done with competition until the new year following the AU dual meet, the Crimson Tide divers return to Auburn Dec. 17-19 for the Auburn Diving Invite

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