The Florida Gators will have their first home meet of 2012 on Saturday at the Stephen C. O’Connell Natatorium to take on Florida Atlantic. Most of the Gators will be competing Saturday against FAU except some of the men will be in Dallas for The Classic at SMU (Southern Methodist) on Friday and Saturday.
“This weekend’s good because we get a chance to see the entire team, men and women. The women and most of the men will swim here against Florida Atlantic. Good in-state rival, they’ll test us and give us a chance to see where we’re at,” coach Gregg Troy said at Monday’s press conference.
In fall 2011, the Gators and Owls met at the All-Florida Invitational and the Georgia Tech Invitational, with Florida being victorious both times. For the women, Florida came in first at both events while Florida Atlantic came in fifth at All-Florida Invitational and eighth at Georgia Tech. Meanwhile, the Gators men were first at the All-Florida Invitational and Florida Atlantic took third. At the Georgia Tech Invitational, the Florida men came in second while Florida Atlantic finished in eighth.
“Steve Eckelkamp, the coach down there, does a tremendous job. They’re always well coached. They race you tough, maybe a little thin in depth, but their top line people are really good,” Coach Troy added.
The diving portion of the day begins at 11 a.m. while the swimming portion starts at 1 p.m. Here is the schedule for the day:
Time Event
11 AM 1 Meter Diving (Men & Women)
1 PM 200 Medley Relay
1,000 Freestyle 200 Freestyle
100 Back
100 Breast
200 Fly
50 Free
2 PM 3 Meter Diving (Men & Women)
2:45 PM 100 Free
200 Back
200 Breast
500 Free
100 Fly
3:15 PM Break (15 Minutes)
3:30 PM 400 IM
400 Free Relay
Gator Country reporter Sara Ladwig can be reached at sladwig@gatorcountry.com