After spending countless hours of practice in the pool and accumulating their share of goggle-lines, a group of young athletes will get the opportunity to show just what they can do.
When the UF women compete this weekend, eight of the more experienced swimmers and a diver will head to the SMU Classic in Dallas, Texas, while the remaining squad will travel to Fayetteville, Ark., for a matchup with Kansas and host, Arkansas.
The spotlight will be on these younger swimmers and how they handle the responsibility of scoring all the points for UF in Arkansas.
"The swimmers going to Arkansas are going to have to stand up and compete," associate coach Martyn Wilby said. "The eight that are going to Dallas are usually the ones that score most of our points in a dual meet. They're gone, so now we're gonna have to rely on the freshmen and other people to help us win."
Wilby added that seeing how the younger swimmers handle the pressure this weekend will help when deciding the Southeastern Conference Championships roster.
So with a possible shot at SEC Championship competition on the table, the athletes believe that they are prepared for the challenge they will face this weekend.
"We deal with pressure situations every day in practice, we race some of the toughest people in the conference," freshman Corinne Showalter said. "We are ready; we are ready to take on (the) two teams."
Sophomore Anna-Liisa Pold said the opportunity for the swimmers to step-up, score points and win the meet for UF will be a good experience for the team.
"Our best girls are gonna be at Dallas so it's up to us that aren't usually the leaders, to step up and take that position," Pold said.
"I think that we can still beat their teams (Arkansas and Kansas) and hopefully post some good times up there."
Pold said the use of such meets to influence the SEC roster certainly adds motivation and pressure for the team, and especially for her.
"That definitely makes it a little more of a pressure situation, because for last year's SEC team, I was on the bubble," she said.
"I'm hoping to not be in that position this year, so I want to make my mark early in the season."
On the men's side, the squad will travel to Georgia Tech for competition this week. The team has recently battled injuries and flu-like symptoms, but is prepared for its second consecutive ACC opponent this season.
"We try not to think about that anytime we have a meet," senior Roberto Gomez said. He added that the team would race with the available athletes and hope for good results against the Yellow Jackets.
