In just its fourth season in the expanded Southeastern Conference (SEC), Missouri will host the SEC Championships in swimming & diving in 2016.
That news comes according to the Auburn Tigers 2015-2016 schedule, which was released today. Auburn lists the SEC Championships as taking place in Columbia, Missouri from February 16-20 of 2016.
The SEC Championships are a co-ed meet, and hold up as one of the fastest conference meets in the nation each season. They’re also notable in that they feature and expanded five-day event lineup, longer than the four-day schedule used by most Division I conferences and longer than the three-day schedule at the NCAA Championships.
Missouri’s pool is just over 10 years old, having opened in 2005. It’s a classic 50-meter-by-25-yard pool with two movable bulkheads and a separate diving well. It was a multi-year host of the Missouri Grand Prix (back when the Arena Pro Swim Series was still known as the “Grand Prix Series”), and hosted the Big 12 Championship meet three times before Missouri switched conferences in 2012.
Both Missouri and Texas A&M jumped from the Big 12 to the SEC that year, and both programs featured large enough facilities to jump right into the SECs hosting rotation. A&M already had its chance to host, taking on the SEC meet in 2013, its first season in the conference.
Missouri’s Aquatic Center seats 1,000 spectators, putting it right on par with last year’s hosts, Auburn.
2015 saw streaks continue for the SEC champs on both sides. The Georgia women won their 6th-consecutive conference title, while the Florida men made it three in a row.
The SEC meet will also feature a number of defending NCAA champs. Florida’s Caeleb Dressel is back for his sophomore season after winning the 50 free as a rookie. His SEC rival is Alabama’s Kristian Gkolomeev, who won the 100 free at nationals. At the other end of the yardage spectrum, Georgia’s Matias Koski is back for his senior season after winning the 1650 free at NCAAs.
This really shows that Missouri is improving as a swim program. They did in fact have myriad NCAA finalists this past season.