HOUSTON – The University of Houston Swimming & Diving team is set to start the 2015-16 season on the road Friday as they travel to Southlake, Texas, to compete in the North Texas Relays at the Southlake Carroll Natatorium. Houston will face familiar faces in SMU, North Texas and UALR and compete against Oklahoma Baptist for the first time, with the meet starting at 6 p.m. CT.
“We’ve been waiting to race for a while, myself personally and the team too,” said Head Coach Ryan Wochomurka. “They’ve been waiting to race, and we’ve been working hard for the last six weeks to have an opportunity to get out there and compete. We’re ready for that.”
This meet marks the beginning of the Ryan Wochomurka Era, as he was named the program’s seventh Head Swimming and Diving Coach in April. Wochomurka comes to Houston from the University of Louisville, where he spent the past eight seasons as a member of the coaching staff. During his time at the UL, he helped the women’s team win three championships and the men’s team win two championships in the Big East Conference, and both teams captured titles at the inaugural American Athletic Championship in 2014.
“It’s a new era for myself, Hannah (Burandt) and Bob (Gunter), as a coaching staff,” Wochomurka said. “But these girls have been racing all their lives. This is really an opportunity for them to get back to racing, and also for them to demonstrate what they’ve been doing for the last six weeks since they’ve been back to school.”
The Cougars return four All-American Athletic Conference Team members: divers Taylor Olanski, Micaela Bouter and Danielle Shedd and swimmer Sharo Rodriguez. Olanski also won Diver of the Year honors at the American Championships last season.
ORDER OF EVENTS:
300-Yard Butterfly Relay
300-Yard Backstroke Relay
300-Yard Breaststroke Relay
800-Yard Freestyle Relay
500-Yard Freestyle Relay
400-Yard Medley Relay
200-Yard Freestyle Relay
1500-Yard Freestyle Relay
400-Yard Medley 4 x 100 IM Relay
400-Yard Freestyle Relay
1-Meter Diving
UP NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
Houston will host their annual Red & White Meet on Friday, Oct. 16. The intra-squad scrimmage begins at 2:30 p.m. CT inside of the CRWC Natatorium as Cougar fans have the opportunity to see the 2015-16 team at home for the first time.
COUGARS TO HOST AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP
Houston will host the American Athletic Conference Championships for the first time as the best swimmers and divers in the league visit the CRWC Natatorium from Feb. 17-20, 2016. Following the conference meet, the Cougars will look to close the season at the NCAA Championships, to be held March 17-19, 2016 in Atlanta.
FOLLOW THE COUGARS!
Fans can keep up with the latest in University of Houston Cougar athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook.com/HoustonAthletics), Twitter (@UHCougars), Instagram (houstoncougars) and YouTube.com (Youtube.com/UHAthletics). In addition, the swimming & diving team has established its own official Facebook (Facebook.com/HoustonCougarSwimmingDiving) and Twitter pages (@UHCougarSwim), which provide regular updates on the team and live results during home meets.
Swimming news courtesy of Houston Swimming & Diving.
