ATLANTA, Ga. – When the Alabama swimming and diving team hits the water Thursday for the Georgia Tech Invitational, its fourth meet of the 2015-16 season, it will be a little different than the first three meets.
After facing off against a single opponent in its first three meets of the season, Alabama will take on more than a dozen schools. Instead of a dual meet format, which features timed finals of 16 events, the Tide and the rest of the field will compete over the full complement of events, including five relays, over three days with preliminary and final sessions each day.
“This one is a little different,” UA head coach Dennis Pursley said. “It’s what we’ll see at the end of the season in the championship meets.”
As a team, Alabama comes into the meet with a variety of goals, and more so than any other meet of the season, with more individualized strategies.
“We’re approaching the meet differently for different athletes and different training groups,” Pursley said.
The departure from the Tide’s usual November/December invitational strategy is based largely on this being an Olympic season and several of the Tide’s athletes are looking to make their Olympic qualifying marks early in the year, allowing them to focus on training hard for the both the postseason and a shot at making it to the 2016 Olympic Games.
The meet gets underway Thursday, with prelims starting at 9 a.m. CT and finals beginning at 5 p.m. CT each day.
In addition to being a big weekend on Alabama’s schedule, the meet also serves as a homecoming of sorts for several Tide swimmers who hail from the Atlanta area, including All-American and SEC Champion Connor Oslin.
Swimming news courtesy of Alabama Swimming & Diving.