No. 4 Gators Open 2010 With IRSC and LSU Duals Saturday & Sunday
Thursday, January 7, 2010 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Florida's top-five men's and women's swimming and diving programs will open the 2010 portion of its schedule Sat., Jan. 9, with the women set to duel with Indian River State College at 1 p.m. in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. Sunday, the UF men and women will host their first conference match-up of 2010 when the LSU Tigers visit Gainesville for a 1 p.m. dual.
The Gators are coming off a successful start to the season, as the No. 4 men racked up an undefeated 4-0 (1-0 SEC) dual meet record and the fifth-ranked women raced their way to a 5-2 (1-1 SEC) record throughout the fall portion of the 2009-10 schedule.
With nearly a month-long winter training cycle, Florida is prepared to hit the water for a successful spring and championship season. The two duals with Indian River and conference rival LSU kick off a four-meet home stand, as Florida Atlantic travels to Gainesville Jan. 16 and Auburn battles the Gators at the O'Dome Jan. 22 on UF's Senior Day.
Sunday's SEC match-up with LSU will serve as Florida's cancer awareness meet of the season, where the first 250 fans will receive pink breast cancer awareness swimming and diving cups. During the first diving break, an American Cancer Society informational video will play on the GatorVision board and pink t-shirts will be tossed into the crowd.
Saturday's women's meet will feature a tough match-up between Indian River and Florida, as the Indian River swimming and diving squads have won more than 30 consecutive NJCAA swimming championships and consistently serve as one of UF's toughest in-state competitors. The Gators hold a 24-2 all-time record over IRSC in women's action. In the last meeting between the Florida and Indian River ladies teams, the Gators owned an 87-20 edge when IRSC visited Gainesville Jan. 31.
Sunday, Florida plays host to the Tigers, whose men's and women's teams enter the dual with a 1-4 record on the 2009-10 season. Both Tiger squads dropped the first four match-ups of the season to three tough Southeastern Conference teams in Tennessee, Auburn and Alabama, as well as being defeated by Florida State from the ACC. Both the LSU men's and women's teams won duals with the University of New Orleans Nov. 13 before heading to the Cougar Fall Classic in Houston and the Christmas Diving Classic, hosted by Alabama Dec. 17-19. The Tigers will make a pit stop on their way to Gainesville to compete against Florida Atlantic Jan. 8.
In the LSU/Florida series, the Gators hold an undefeated advantage over the Tigers on both the men's and women's side, 19-0 in men's action and 12-0 in women's swimming and diving. In the last outing, Florida visited LSU in Baton Rouge Oct. 23, 2008, escaping with a 185-104 win for the women and a 166-131 victory in men's action.
Complete results from both Florida home meets, as well as a recap and highlights of swim and dive, will be available on www.GatorZone.com following each day of competition.
Sunday's match-up with LSU will be a tape-delayed broadcast by Sun Sports, which will air Sun., Jan. 24, at 8:30 a.m. on Cox channel 48 (Gainesville), Tues., Jan. 26, at 11 p.m. and Wed., Jan. 27, at 4:30 p.m.
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