Courtesy: Florida International Athletics
MIAMI – The FIU swim and dive program announced the release of its 2019 schedule on Tuesday, as the Panthers get ready for a new season in the pool.
For the full 2019-20 schedule, click here.
FIU will host eight meets at the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Center, while serving as the home squad for an additional two meets on the year. The five-peat C-USA Champions will face seven Power-5 foes in all for the season, before making a run at their sixth-straight league title in Atlanta on Feb. 27-29.
“We are excited to host a great home meet schedule this year. This is our third year hosting the TYR Fall Classic and it’s the strongest field of teams yet. Dual-A-Pool-Ooza is at our place as well and we are looking to add an open water event to that event for the first time in Biscayne Bay,” said head coach Randy Horner.
The Panthers will open the 2019-20 season at home against a pair of in-state foes as FIU hosts Florida on Thursday, Sept. 26 before closing out the weekend with crosstown rival Miami (Fla.) on Saturday, Sept. 28. Next up for FIU will be a trio of meets in the TYR Fall Classic (Oct. 4-5), Blue and Gold Alumni Intrasqaud Meet (Oct. 12) and the Dual-A-Pool-Ooza (Oct. 18-19), which will all be hosted at the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Center.
The Panthers open the month of November with the Illini of Illinois traveling to Miami as FIU hosts the Big Ten foe, the Hurricanes will also join in on the two-day event with dual meet action beginning on Friday, Nov. 1-2 at the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Center before hitting the road for the first time against fellow Big Ten foe Purdue on Nov. 21-23 for the Purdue Fall Invitational. The Blue & Gold return home on Tuesday, Dec. 17 to host Nova Southeastern and cap the 2019 year.
FIU opens 2020 with a pair of January meets, as the Panthers take part in the Orange Bowl Classic (Friday, Jan. 3) at Key Largo and the FIU Sprint Invite (Saturday, Jan. 4) at the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Center. FIU makes the short trip over to Fort Myers on Saturday, Jan. 25 to face Florida Gulf Coast and conclude the road regular-season slate. FIU will hold Senior Day on Saturday, Feb. 1 as Florida Atlantic visits the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Center at 10 a.m. ET. The divers will head to Coral Springs, Florida for the South Florida Diving Invitational, which will mark the final competition for the Panthers of the regular season.
The quest for a sixth-straight conference title at the C-USA Championships will begin on Wednesday, Feb. 27 as the Panthers travel to Atlanta. The league championships will take place at the McAuley Aquatic Center Pool on Georgia Tech’s Campus.
Following the conference tournament, the Panthers will look to continue their postseason run beginning with NCAA Dive Zones (March 9-11) which will take place in Athens, Georgia and acts as the qualifying competition for the National Championships scheduled on March 18-21. The National Invitational Championships are scheduled in between the two NCAA events (March 12-14), in which the hopeful Panthers look to make another run at the championship.
