The University of Minnesota Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving team has announced its schedule for the upcoming 2015-16 NCAA season, which includes hosting the 2015 Arena Pro Swim Series Minneapolis stop in December as well as several dual matchups with top NCAA teams.
The Golden Gophers begin their season with an alumni meet on September 17th, and then will buckle down for a couple weeks before traveling to Tallahassee, Florida, on October 3rd to take on Florida State University. That won’t be their only dual competition with a Florida team, as the Florida Gators will come visit Minneapolis just a week later for a big dual. The meet with Florida is a “Pack the Pool” event, as there will be promotions and other giveaways to boost Gopher pride for the swimming/diving team.
The Gopher women won by a considerable margin last year against the Gators, and while they graduated a big class of seniors, they do bring back a host of talented freshmen, including Zoe Avestruz, who is expected to8 fill a backstroke hole that has weakened their lineup for the last couple seasons. They will miss Kierra Smith, who is taking the year off to focus on Rio, and Florida still returns most of their squad from last year, so expect this meet to be a little closer than last year on the women’s side. The Gopher men will have a tough time hanging with the NCAA 5th place finishers Florida, though they return Daryl Turner, who was one of just two Minnesota swimmers to win an individual event in last year’s dual in Gainesville.
October 16th marks the first meet of the B1G season for the Gophers, as they take the drive down to Madison to battle with Wisconsin. The Gopher men will take on a Badger team with a fast-improving junior class that will take the reigns after seniors like Drew teDuits, Nick Schaefer, and Nick Caldwell have graduated. The Gopher women will fight against Wisconsin’s sprint depth, with possible match-ups occurring between butterfliers Danielle Nack and Dana Grindall as well as a distance battle between the likes of Brooke Zeiger and Danielle Valley.
The Gophers then travel to North Dakota as well as Iowa for two dual meets before returning to host the 2015 Arena Pro Swim Series at Minneapolis. This is the first stop on the 2015-16 Arena Pro Swim Series, and notably, it will be done in long course meters. Typically, this is the only meet of the Series that is swum in short course yards, but due to the Olympic year, it will be contested in LCM.
Just prior to their winter break training, the Gophers will host the Jean Freeman Invite December 4-5. This will be their last bit of racing for a month, and they will head to Hawaii for a training trip as well as a dual meet with the University of Hawaii.
Next, they’ll head to a Quad Meet in Denver, Colorado, before returning to Minneapolis to take on the 2nd half of their season.
Once they’re back in the midwest, Minnesota will travel to Evanston, IL for a B1G Triple Dual. Last year, the meet featured Minnesota, Purdue, and Northwestern. A week later will be the Minnesota Challenge, a meet that the Gophers host, before they launch into championship season.
The women’s Big Ten Champs are set to take place in Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan, while the men’s meet will be contested a week later in West Lafayette at Purdue University. The Gopher women will be looking for their 5th straight B1G title, while the men will look to improve upon their 6th place finish.
Following conference championships, the Gophers will take qualified swimmers and divers to the NCAA Championships. The women’s meet will take place March 17-19th, while the men’s meet is set for March 24-26th. Both meets will be hosted by Georgia Tech in Atlanta, GA.
|
2015-2016 SCHEDULE
|
| Date | Opponent / Event | Location | Time / Result |
| 09/18/15 | Alumni Meet # | Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center | 6:00 p.m. CT |
| 10/03/15 | at Florida State | Tallahassee, Fla. | 9:00 a.m. CT |
| 10/10/15 | vs. Florida | Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center | 10:00 a.m. CT |
| 10/16/15 | at Wisconsin * | Madison, Wis. | 6:00 p.m. CT |
| 10/23/15 | at North Dakota | Grand Forks, N.D. | 5:00 p.m. CT |
| 10/30/15 | at Iowa * | Iowa City, Iowa | 5:00 p.m. CT |
| Grand Prix | |||
| 11/12/15 | Grand Prix | Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center | All Day |
| 11/13/15 | Grand Prix | Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center | All Day |
| 11/14/15 | Grand Prix | Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center | All Day |
 |
|||
| Jean K. Freeman Invitational | |||
| 12/04/15 | Jean K. Freeman Invitational | Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center | All Day |
| 12/05/15 | Jean K. Freeman Invitational | Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center | All Day |
|
|
|||
| 01/09/16 | at Hawai’i | Honolulu, Hawai’i | TBA |
| Denver Quad Dual | |||
| 01/15/16 | Denver Quad Dual | Denver, Colo. | TBA |
| 01/16/16 | Denver Quad Dual | Denver, Colo. | TBA |
|
|
|||
| Big Ten Triple Dual | |||
| 01/29/16 | at Big Ten Triple Dual * | Evanston, Ill. | 6:00 p.m. CT |
| 01/30/16 | at Big Ten Triple Dual * | Evanston, Ill. | 12:00 p.m. CT |
|
|
|||
| Minnesota Challenge | |||
| 02/05/16 | Minnesota Challenge | Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center | 6:00 p.m. CT |
| 02/06/16 | Minnesota Challenge | Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center | 12:00 p.m. CT |
|
|
|||
| Big Ten Championships | |||
| 02/24/16 | Big Ten Championships * | West Lafayette, Ind. | TBA |
| 02/25/16 | Big Ten Championships * | West Lafayette, Ind. | TBA |
| 02/26/16 | Big Ten Championships * | West Lafayette, Ind. | TBA |
| 02/27/16 | Big Ten Championships * | West Lafayette, Ind. | TBA |
|
|
|||
| NCAA Diving Zones | |||
| 03/07/16 | NCAA Diving Zones | TBA | TBA |
| 03/08/16 | NCAA Diving Zones | TBA | TBA |
| 03/09/16 | NCAA Diving Zones | TBA | TBA |
|
|
|||
| NCAA Championships | |||
| 03/24/16 | NCAA Championships | Atlanta, Ga. | TBA |
| 03/25/16 | NCAA Championships | Atlanta, Ga. | TBA |
| 03/26/16 | NCAA Championships | Atlanta, Ga. | TBA |
|
|
|||