After a disappointing performance in their dual-competition against Texas and Indiana, the Gators men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams are hoping to bounce back after an off-week, healthy and in peak racing condition.
Florida will take on Georgia this weekend in a matchup that features the top two men’s swimming programs in the nation.
"It’s always good to swim Georgia on Florida-Georgia football weekend. It puts a little extra into the competition," coach Gregg Troy said. "We are swimming the long course, we will go 50 meters. With it being an Olympic year, both Georgia and ourselves have a lot of athletes that have Olympic aspirations, so it helps them out a lot to train and race 50 meters in this situation."
This is different from the short course with which Florida’s athletes are familiar and will require the swimmers to rely more on finesse rather than power and strength.
Opening Southeastern Conference competition, the men’s squad faces a team that defeated them 174.5-122.5 last season and beat the women by a score of 176-119.
According to Troy, the men have to improve on their performance against Texas if they want an opportunity to beat Georgia.
With 25 of 35 athletes on the men’s team holding either freshman or sophomore standing, what the men are lacking most is experience.
Although they lost to Texas, Troy was happy with the way his team competed — he just wants them to sharpen their technical skills.
For the women’s squad, the leadership of senior Natalie Hinds is critical in helping her younger teammates prepare for big meets.
"She makes all the relays click," Troy said.
"She’s real focused, brings other people up to her level of competition. Just a tremendous athlete."
Although neither team has been perfect in competition this season, 11 members of the No. 1 men’s and No. 13 women’s teams have combined to lead the SEC in 14 separate events.
Five Gators also held the fastest times in the country as of Tuesday.
The meet will provide the Gators and Bulldogs a chance to showcase their skills on the Florida Swim Network during the first broadcast of College SwimDay.
Airing from the O’Connell Center, the 45-minute event will start at 10 a.m. on Friday and give fans the opportunity to view an assortment of live segments and videos.
Similar to College GameDay for football, College SwimDay will give fans in attendance the chance to display signs supporting their team.
The platform gives the Gators a great opportunity to avenge last year’s loss on a national stage.
"Georgia was a top-10 last year, and I think that they are little bit better this year," Troy said.
"They are a great group and we are going to be challenged the whole way through."
Follow Lauren Staff on Twitter @Lstaff27
Junior Natalie Hinds competes in the 100-yard butterfly during Florida's 189.5-110.5 win against Arkansas on Saturday in the O'Connell Center
