Alabama
SEC Swimming & Diving Championships (W. Swimming)
Alabama Women and Divers Open SEC Swimming and Diving Championships Wednesday
2/16/2021 4:24:00 PM | Swimming & Diving
For the first time since the mid-80s, the men and women swimmers will compete at separate sites
ATHENS, Ga. – When the Southeastern Conference Swimming and Diving Championships get underway on Wednesday, the schedule and setup of the meet will look very different than it has at any point in the last 35 years.
The biggest difference will be the fact that the women and men will compete at separate sites for the first time since 1985, with the women swimmers opening competition in Athens, Ga., on Wednesday, while the men starting competition on Tuesday, Feb. 23 in Columbia, Mo. Diving will also be held separately from the swimming events, with both the men and women competing in Columbia, Mo., starting Wednesday.
With fewer swimmers at each site, the meet has contracted from five days to four. The women's meet starts Wednesday at 4 p.m. CT with 1-meter springboard diving in Columbia and the 200 medley relay in Athens. The swimmers will also compete the 800 freestyle relay on day one, before beginning a full slate of events on Thursday at 9 a.m. CT.
Interim Head Coach Ozzie Quevedo Said
"This year's SEC Championships will certainly have a different feel, but that's been true of this year in general. We are grateful as a team to have this opportunity to compete for championships in the best conference in the country. Everyone associated with our team has done a good job of controlling what they can control and staying focused as we have moved through the uncertainty that started last year at this time. We're excited and ready to roll."
Going to the 'Ship
- A total of 14 women are making a return trip to the SEC Championships this week, including Kalia Antoniou, Halia Bower, Jocelyn Fisher, Abby Koczo, Morgan Liberto, Tanesha Lucoe, Kensey McMahon, Flora Molnar, Maria Reed, Caitlin Reynera, Morgan Scott, Rhyan White, Kaila Wong and Cat Wright
- The Crimson Tide's 2021 roster also includes eight women who are making their first trip to the SEC Championships -Â Sydney Carlson, Cora Dupre, Gracie Felner, Maddie Mechling, Meg Peel, Diana Petkova, Jada Surrell and Ashley Voelkerding
- 20 members of the Tide's roster will be in Athens for the swimming portion of the championships, while two – Lucoe and Bower – will be in Columbia for diving
Alabama Women at Last Year's SEC Championships
- The Alabama women finished seventh at last year's SEC Championships, held in Auburn, Ala., after totaling 748 points and jumping four places from 2019. It was the Tide women's best team finish since also finishing seventh in 2012
- Rhyan White led the way on the women's side of the meet, winning the 100 and 200 backstrokes, setting SEC records in both
- It marked the first time that an Alabama woman has swept the backstroke events at the conference championships since Kim Nicholson in 1982
- White also earned silver in the 100 butterfly
- Kensey McMahon took top honors in the 1,650 freestyle, making her the first UA woman to win an SEC championship in the mile
- Tanesha Lucoe closed out her first SEC Championships in style, winning Alabama's first women's platform diving title since Elizabeth Hughes in 2009 and was named the SEC Female Freshman Diver of the Year
- The Tide women's four SEC titles in 2020 was the most since winning eight in 1985, when Alabama also won the SEC team title
- When White, Kaila Wong, Flora Molnar and Kalia Antoniou took the silver medal in the 400 medley relay, it marked Alabama's first top-two relay finish at SECs since 1996, and its best finish in the 400 medley relay since also finishing second in 1991
- Alabama also made the podium when Antoniou, Molnar, White and Morgan Scott used a school record to take the bronze in the 400 freestyle relay to close the championships
- The 2020 SEC championships marked the first time since 2001 that Alabama's women posted two podium finishes in the relays at the same championships
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Players Mentioned
