By Dan D’Addona.
The SEC will have its first full weekend of swimming action this week. Here is what to watch for:
Meet of the Week: Alabama at Missouri
With a lot of the attention in the SEC centered around Georgia, Florida and Auburn, one of the most underrated — but most important — meets of the season will be Friday’s matchup between Alabama and Missouri.
The Crimson Tide are ranked No. 10 in the men’s poll — just two spots ahead of Missouri.
In the women’s poll, Missouri is No. 23, just three spots ahead of Alabama.
That is about as even a matchup in a conference season as you can get — especially with all four teams ranked.
The Crimson Tide opened the season against Delta State on Sept. 9 and rolled. The Alabama women won their double dual meet against Vanderbilt and West Florida on Sept. 30.
Freshman Alexis Preski won the 1,000 freestyle with a 10:08.05, securing her first win for the Crimson Tide. Bailey Scott picked up top honors in the 50 freestyle, touching the wall at 23.11, and Temarie Tomley earned first place in the 100 freestyle with a 50.72.
Meanwhile, Missouri fared well at the Show-Me Showdown on Oct. 6, led by the divers. Juniors Alexa Beckwith and Hunter Fritter were each named SEC Divers of the Week.
Beckwith helped the Tigers win the team 1-meter scramble and placed second on 3-meter in the season-opening meet.Fritter swept the 1-meter scramble and 3-meter at the Showdown, with individual scores of 352 and 312, respectively.
This will be the first big test for both teams as Alabama and Missouri look to swim their way into SEC contention.
Florida at Florida St.
One of the best rivalries in the water continues as Florida State hosts Florida in Swimming World’s ACC Meet of the Week on Thursday.
The Gators are ranked no. 3 in the men’s poll and No. 9 in the women’s poll.
The Gators were third at the men’s NCAA championships last year, and they have a stellar core consisting of Olympian Caeleb Dressel, Mitch D’Arrigo, Jan Switkowski and Maxime Rooney.
The women’s meet could come down to freshmen like Florida’s Savanna Faulconer and Alyssa Yambor-Maul.
Kentucky at Auburn
After sweeping Wisconsin last week, the Auburn men and women return to SEC action when they host Kentucky at noon Wednesday.
Joe Patching won three individual events for the No. 6 men and Natasha Lloyd and Ashley Neidigh each won two for the No. 11 women. Overall, the Auburn men won nine events and won the meet 156-144, while the women won 10 events to win 165-135.
The Auburn men finished 10th at the NCAA Championships and second at the SEC Championships last season, while the women finished 33rd at NCAAs and fourth at SECs.
Kentucky broke 14 school records last season and the Wildcats return an experienced roster with 55 student-athletes from last year’s team. Kentucky has 11 NCAA qualifiers returning and six All-Americans, led by Danielle Galyer, who won the NCAA championship in the 200-yard backstroke.
Kentucky at South Carolina
Just one day after facing national-power Auburn, The Wildcats head to South Carolina for another SEC dual at noon Thursday. This will be the first meet for the Gamecocks after their first scheduled meet was canceled due to Hurricane Matthew.
Drury at Arkansas
Arkansas opens its regular season by hosting Drury on Friday. The Razorbacks are coming off of their annual Red-White intersquad meet. Senior Aiden Lister led all swimmers with three total wins with two individual victories coming in the 500- (4:58.81) and 1,000-yard freestyle (10:08.06) events and a victory in the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:30.51). Junior Jessie Garrison earned wins in the 400-yard individual medley (4:21.90) and the 200-yard butterfly (2:02.16).
~ Roll Tide Roll ~ or In This Case – Create The Tide Go! lol