The Florida men’s and women’s swimming and diving team returns to the pool today in Athens, Georgia, the first meet in two weeks since the Gators beat the Kentucky Wildcats on Oct. 16th. Florida will face the Georgia men’s squad (2-1, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) which is ranked fourth nationally while Georgia’s women’s team (4-0, 2-0 SEC) is ranked second in the country. The Bulldogs are coming off a dual meet with North Carolina State with Georgia’s women pulling out their fourth straight win while the men suffered their first loss on Oct. 18.
For the Gators, coach Gregg Troy brings his third-ranked women’s team (3-0, 3-0 SEC) and fifth ranked men’s team (2-0, 2-0 SEC) to Georgia to face off against the Bulldogs.
The College Swimming Coaches Association of America officially announced its rankings on Oct. 23 and Oct. 30, respectively. For the men, the Gators have enjoyed much success against the Bulldogs as they are 61-15-3 all-time against Georgia.
The same cannot be said for the women.
Not only are Georgia and Florida ranked two and three respectively, they also stand head to head with a 14-14 all-time record against each other.
Troy said he’s not worried about records and statistics. He said he’s looking forward to this meet as a great way to evaluate his team and watch them compete against one of the best teams in the nation.
“Tomorrow’s (Friday) meet should be a great opportunity for both the men and women to race some of the best athletes in the NCAA,” Troy said. “This is a perfect time, being that it is the midpoint of the fall, to evaluate where we are.”
UF will be facing off against some of the best swimmers in the country as the Bulldogs’ Brittany MacLean is the top swimmer in the 1,000 freestyle, second in the 1,650 freestyle and seventh overall in the 500 freestyle.
Georgia also has six other swimmers with times in the top-10 in the country.
Another stat for the Gators’ women to take with them to Athens: the ladies of Georgia have won 91 straight meets at home dating all the way back to Nov. 8, 1995.
On the other side, the UF men have a streak of their own, having not lost in 26 straight dual meets, posting a 25-0-1 record since their last fall to Auburn in January 2011. Florida tied Georgia in October 2011.
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