The UConn men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will face an exciting and challenging schedule in 2017-18 under first-year head coach Chris Maiello.
The dual meet schedule starts with a distinctive in-state flair at Yale on Friday, Oct. 13. Home action starts on Friday, Oct. 20 with a meet against Central Connecticut and St. Bonaventure and a Saturday, Oct. 21 meet vs. Fordham.
UConn travels to Southern Connecticut on Friday, Nov. 3.
“We are looking forward to a challenging yet productive schedule this fall,” said Maiello. “I am excited to have local teams such at Yale, Central Connecticut and Southern Connecticut on our schedule again. I hope our meets with these teams are competitive, so we can begin a lasting relationship with these local programs.”
Maiello comes to UConn after a successful four-year stint as the head coach at North Dakota.
The UConn swimmers will take part in the House of Champions meet on the weekend of Nov. 17-19 at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis. The facility is one of the marquee swimming venues in the world and has hosted countless nationally-recognized events, including USA Olympic trials and USA Swimming National Championships.
“We are also looking forward to some new competitions on our schedule, specifically, the House of Champions meet in November,” said Maiello. “This meet will be very competitive for us and in a facility that is world class. It will be beneficial for our athletes to be exposed to such a great facility. We expect to swim very fast there.”
On the same weekend, the UConn divers will compete at the Frank Elm Invite on the Rutgers campus in New Brunswick, N.J.
“The divers will be competing in the same facility that the NCAA Zones are in later in the season,” said Maiello. “I know that this will be an advantage for our divers when we go back there in March.”
Another highlight of the year will be a Senior Day meet in Storrs vs. Dartmouth on Saturday, Jan. 27.
“This is always a highlight on our schedule and great day for our senior class,” said Maiello.
UConn will compete at the American Athletic Conference championships in Dallas from Feb. 14-17.
The goal is to send as many swimmers and divers to NCAA competition as possible always and that begins on March 5-7 with the NCAA Zone Diving Championship. The NCAA women’s swimming and diving championship is March 14-17 in Columbus, Ohio, and the men’s is March 21-24 in Minneapolis.
News courtesy of UConn Athletics.
