ATHENS, Ga. — One day before their football counterparts play in Jacksonville, the Georgia and Florida swimming and diving teams will square off in an early season marquee meet.
Friday’s meet, the SEC opener for both programs, in Athens will begin with 1-meter diving at 10 a.m., followed by the swimming events and 3-meter diving at 11 a.m. Admission to Gabrielsen Natatorium inside the Ramsey Center is free.
Friday’s meet will air on SEC Network + with Jeff Dantzler handling play-by-play and former UGA student-athletes Brittany MacLean (swimming) and Todd Avery (diving) offering analysis.
“As always, we’re excited to compete against Florida,” Georgia head coach Jack Bauerle said. “It’s fun that it’s the same weekend as the football game. The atmosphere of that almost carries over to the meet. Florida has one of the best programs in the country and a tremendous coaching staff. They will be well-prepared and in shape, and we have a lot of respect for them. It’s neat to swim them this early. It means a lot, but it doesn’t mean everything. We’re still trying to figure out who’s who. It will be a heck of a meet; it always is.”
The men’s meet will be a battle of top-10 teams as Georgia is No. 7 and Florida is No. 8 in the TYR/CSCAA poll. On the women’s side, the Lady Bulldogs are No. 8 and Florida is No. 18.
The Lady Bulldogs have won each of the last nine meetings against Florida, while the Bulldogs have claimed two straight in the series. The Lady Bulldogs also are 33-0-1 in their last 34 overall dual meets dating back to the 2012-13 campaign.
Moreover, Georgia will be putting its NCAA Division I swimming and diving record of 100 straight victories at home on the line again. The streak dates back to Nov. 8, 1995 – before 22 current members of the squad were born. Florida won the second meet at Gabrielsen Natatorium in 1995 and Georgia has not lost at home since.
Swimming enws courtesy of UGA Swimming & Diving.
my money is on UGA women and the men’s meet will be a toss up