The Texas Longhorns are the team to beat in college swimming.
Led by Olympic gold medalists Townley Haas and Jack Conger, the Lone Star State powerhouse has won two consecutive national championships and starts this season ranked no. 1.
The Indiana Hoosiers aren’t far behind. The Hoosiers placed second in the Big Ten last season and have many talented swimmers returning.
Today the Gators take on both in Bloomington, Indiana, and it will take a big performance to top two of the best teams in the country. Last year, the men fell to Texas while the women dropped the meet to both Texas and Indiana.
Despite last year’s results, however, there are plenty of reasons for optimism heading into the match. Both the men and women defeated Florida State last week in their first dual-meet of the season. Senior Alyssa Yambor-Maul continued to impress, winning three different events while the return of Olympians Caeleb Dressel, Mitch D’Arrigo and Jan Switkowski had the men looking dominant.
Now, with some experience and confidence under their belts, the Gators will face their first true test of the season and find out if they have what it takes to once again compete for a National Championship.
And if experience is any indicator of success, Florida could be in good shape. The Longhorns and Hoosiers have yet to compete this season. The Gators have already had two meets, the All-Florida Invitational and the Florida State dual meet, to prepare their young swimmers and see what they need to work on.
But while Florida does have more experience, it doesn’t have any quite like this. The meet will feature a unique format in which the three teams will go head-to-head in a 50-meter competition pool in Friday's events and a 25-yard short-course pool for Saturday's events.
The meet begins today at 2 p.m. and continue with the finals Saturday at 10 a.m.
Contact Drew Kozlin at dkozlin@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @DrewKoz2.
Jan Switkowski races in the 200 meter butterfly during Florida’s meet against Auburn on Jan. 23, 2016, in the O’Connell Center.
