GAINESVILLE – Florida head swimming coach Gregg Troy believes that the tougher the competition, the tougher his Gators will be.
He should know after a banner 2009-10 swimming season during which the women’s swimming and diving team won its second NCAA championship and the men’s team had its seventh consecutive top-five finish.
“We put together a challenging dual-meet schedule with top teams from major conferences,” Troy said. “It’s a great challenge. From an invitational standpoint, we’re trying to compete in enough invitationals with a three-day format that help put us in a championship mentality.”
Both teams will swim dual meets against Virginia (Oct. 11), at Georgia (Oct. 29), at LSU (men Nov. 4), at Stanford with Michigan (women Nov. 5-6), at Florida State (Nov. 23), Georgia Tech (Jan. 7), Florida Atlantic (Jan. 15), at Auburn (Jan. 21), Tennessee (Jan. 29) and Indian River State College (Jan. 30).
The season starts with the inaugural All Florida Invitational Oct. 1-3 at the O’Connell Center that will feature teams from around the state. Both teams will compete Dec. 2-4 in the 2010 U.S. Short Course Nationals at Ohio State. Florida is also scheduled to swim at the Georgia Tech Invitational (Nov. 19-21), Princeton Invitational (Dec. 3-5) and Tennessee Diving Invitational (Jan. 3-5). Florida also is scheduled to compete in the Dallas Classic (Jan. 14-15).
The O’Connell Center will be the site for the SEC Diving Championships (Feb. 11-13) and the SEC Swimming Championships (Feb. 16-19). Following the SEC championships, Florida will compete in the Florida Swimming Senior Championships Feb. 25-27.
The NCAA Zone Diving Championships are scheduled for March 10-12 in Athens, Ga. The NCAA Women’s Championships are March 17-19 at the University of Texas in Austin, while the NCAA Men’s Championships are March 24-26 at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
“The men’s side will be very young,” Troy said. “We have experienced guys like Brett Fraser, Conor Dwyer and Sebastien Rousseau, but we do have some holes to fill. We will have to replace some swimmers on the women’s side as well, but for both teams we’re trying to keep the goals high and win a championship.”
FLORIDA SWIMMING AND DIVING 2010-11 SCHEDULES
Home meets are in CAPS
SEPTEMBER
25 (Saturday) ORANGE AND BLUE MEET (Alumni Weekend), all day
OCTOBER
01 (Friday) ALL FLORIDA INVITATIONAL, all day
02 (Saturday) ALL FLORIDA INVITATIONAL, all day
03 (Sunday) ALL FLORIDA INVITATIONAL, all day
11 (Monday) VIRGINIA, 1 p.m.
29 (Friday) at Georgia, 11 a.m.
NOVEMBER
04 (Thursday) at Louisiana State (men), 1 p.m.
05 (Friday) at Stanford with Michigan (women), 7 p.m.
06 (Saturday) at Stanford with Michigan (women), 7 p.m.
19 (Friday) at Georgia Tech Invitational, all day
20 (Saturday) at Georgia Tech Invitational, all day
21 (Sunday) at Georgia Tech Invitational, all day
23 (Tuesday) at Florida State, 4 p.m.
DECEMBER
02 (Thursday) at U.S. Nationals, Columbus, Ohio, all day
03 (Friday) at U.S. Nationals, Columbus, Ohio, all day
03 (Friday) at Princeton (N.J.) Invitational, all day
04 (Saturday) at U.S. Nationals, Columbus, Ohio, all day
04 (Saturday) at Princeton (N.J.) Invitational, all day
05 (Sunday) at Princeton (N.J.) Invitational, all day
JANUARY 2011
03 (Monday) at Tennessee Diving Invitational, all day
04 (Tuesday) at Tennessee Diving Invitational, all day
05 (Wednesday) at Tennessee Diving Invitational, all day
07 (Friday) GEORGIA TECH, 6 p.m.
14 (Friday) at Dallas Classic (men), 7 p.m.
15 (Saturday) at Dallas Classic (men), 7 p.m.
15 (Saturday) FLORIDA ATLANTIC, 1 p.m.
21 (Friday) at Auburn, 4 p.m.
29 (Saturday) TENNESSEE, 12 p.m.
30 (Sunday) INDIAN RIVER STATE COLLEGE, 1 p.m.
FEBRUARY
11 (Friday) SEC DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS, all day
12 (Saturday) SEC DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS, all day
13 (Sunday) SEC DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS, all day
16 (Wednesday) SEC SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS, all day
17 (Thursday) SEC SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS, all day
18 (Friday) SEC SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS, all day
19 (Saturday) SEC SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS, all day
25 (Friday) at Florida Swimming Senior Championships, Orlando, all day
26 (Saturday) at Florida Swimming Senior Championships, Orlando, all day
27 (Sunday) at Florida Swimming Senior Championships, Orlando, all day
MARCH
10 (Thursday) at NCAA Zone Diving Championships, Athens, Ga., all day
11 (Friday) at NCAA Zone Diving Championships, Athens, Ga., all day
12 (Saturday) at NCAA Zone Diving Championships, Athens, Ga., all day
17 (Thursday) at NCAA Women’s Championships, Austin, Texas, all day
18 (Friday) at NCAA Women’s Championships, Austin, Texas, all day
19 (Saturday) at NCAA Women’s Championships, Austin, Texas, all day
24 (Thursday) at NCAA Men’s Championships, Minneapolis, Minn., all day
25 (Friday) at NCAA Men’s Championships, Minneapolis, Minn., all day
26 (Saturday) at NCAA Men’s Championships, Minneapolis, Minn., all day