Courtesy: Alabama Athletics
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama swimming and diving teams get their 2018-19 Southeastern Conference schedule underway Saturday morning at 10 a.m. against Texas A&M. The meet will be held at the Alabama Aquatic Center and admission is free.
Alabama’s men are 17th and the Crimson Tide women are receiving votes in the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) TYR top-25 dual meet poll, while the Aggie women are fifth and the men are 10th.
“Our focus every year is on the championships at the end of the year and we’ve got time to get prepared for that, but that’s not to say that we don’t look forward to the dual meets along the way,” UA head coach Dennis Pursley said. “They don’t rank strength of schedule for swimming and diving like they do for some of the other sports, but if they did I’m pretty sure ours would be one of the toughest in the country and that’s a good thing,”
With the morning start to the meet, the first 100 fans will receive a little breakfast in the way of biscuits courtesy of Jack’s. With construction underway on the Crimson Tide’s $21 million renewal of the Alabama Aquatic Center, all fans must enter through the front doors which are located on the Bryant Drive side of the facility.
Alabama’s men and women are both 1-1 on the year while the Aggie women are 1-0 while the men are 1-1 coming into Saturday. Both UA and TAMU faced off against Ohio State in Columbus for their last competition. Alabama’s men and women both fell to the Buckeyes while the Aggies split, with the women winning handily and the men falling in a tight meet.
“Texas A&M, especially on the women’s side, is consistently one of the nation’s best teams and I think their men’s team was one of the most improved in the NCAA last season,” Pursley said. “On paper, based on performances to this point in the season, they’re the stronger team. So we’ve got our work cut out for us, but it’s the kind of challenges that will bring out the best in us and we’re looking forward to it.”
The Crimson Tide has been going through a heavy training phase as it heads into its third dual meet of the season and Pursley has been happy with the effort.
“I’m real pleased with what’s going on in practice at this point,” Pursley said. “In particular, for the first time since I’ve been here, we’ve got a good strong dynamic going in the longer events. That training group is really pushing one another to get better and that’s good to see.”
Freshman Kensey McMahon has been a standout among the Tide’s resurgent distance group. She comes into the weekend ranked 10th nationally in the 1,000 freestyle. On the sprint end of things, seniors Laurent Bams and Robert Howard along with junior Zane Waddell are all ranked in the top-10 nationally in their specialties. Freshman Rhyan White and senior Justine Macfarlane are also ranked in the top-20 in the nation in the backstroke and breaststroke events, respectively.