No. 7 Women's Swimming to Duel it Out With No. 2 Auburn
Friday, January 25, 2008 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Over 50 Olympic Trials qualifiers will take to the pool as the University of Florida and Auburn University men's and women's swimming and diving teams renew their heated rivalry tomorrow in Swim World Magazine's Dual Meet of the Week. The meet will begin at 11:30 with men's and women's one meter diving and will be followed at 1:00 with the first swimming event.
Due to the large amount of athletes training for summer competition from both schools, the meet will be swum in long course meters, supplementing the training schedule of international athletes as well as those looking forward to a possible Olympic berth. Those swimmers that have no already qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials may attempt to do so this weekend. This will mark the third time this season that the Gators have faced an opponent in the long course format. Both the men and the women currently own 1-1 records in the 50-meter pool.
“We are excited to having Auburn come in this weekend. It will feature two of the best teams in the country,” said head coach Gregg Troy. “The meet will be swum long course meters so that our athletes who are focused on the Olympic Trials and international competitions will have one quality meet during the short course season.”
The fifth ranked Florida men stand at 9-1 overall and 3-0 in the Southeastern Conference while the seventh ranked Florida women hold an 8-1 overall record and stand at 3-1 in the SEC. Auburn's eighth ranked men stand at an even 2-2 on the year while the second ranked women are undefeated in dual meet settings at 5-0.
The meet will mark the 34th time Florida's men have faced the Tigers and 27th time that the Florida women have met with Auburn. The Gators hold an advantage on both sides, standing at 21-13 all-time on the men's side and 16-11 on the women's.
“A good solid team the whole way through, Auburn provides us a great opportunity to really evaluate our people going into the conference meet and where we are,” said Troy.
The Auburn meet always proves to be one of the fastest of the year heading into SEC and NCAA action. Last year, despite falling to Auburn, 167-125, the Florida women came away with a then season-high 14 NCAA provisional times and one automatic qualifying time. Caroline Burckle (Louisville, Ky.), who is undefeated this season in individual races, tallied two first place finishes and earned her way to the NCAA meet in the 500 free with a time of 4:44.91.
Bradley Ally (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and Roland Rudolf (Budapest, Hungary) each picked up two victories for the men, but the Gators dropped a 163-137 decision to the Tigers. Rudolf's first place swim in the 200 back of 1:54.24 was a career best for the Gator. Ally swam his way to a season and team-best time in the 200 medley, touching the wall with a time of 1:47.05.
Fans are asked to enter the O'Connell Center from Gate 2 and follow signs designating fan seating. Bleacher sections closest to Gate 2 and the starting blocks will be designated as Auburn while the middle two quarters are assigned for Florida fans and the last quarter, closest to the shallow end of the pool will be open seating.
Fans are encouraged to come early to support the Gators. The first 200 fans will receive a seat cushion, courtesy of GRU, and the first 100 students in attendance will receive free pizza.
Order of Events:
11:30 am Diving 1M (Men & Women)
1:00 pm 200 Medley Relay
1500 Freestyle
200 Freestyle
100 Back
100 Breast
200 Fly
50 Free
2:20 pm (approximate) 3 Meter Diving (Women) - BREAK
2:50 pm (approximate) 100 Free
200 Back
200 Breast
500 Free
100 Fly
3:30 pm (approximate) 3 Meter Diving (Men) - BREAK
4:00 pm (approximate) 200 IM
200 Free Relay
