PITTSBURGH — The University of Pittsburgh swimming & diving team will once again take on a challenging slate of dual meets and prestigious invitationals in 2019-20, head coach John Hargis announced ahead of his fourth season leading the program.
The Panthers will have seven opportunities to compete at Trees Pool, including dual matchups against Ohio State and Notre Dame along with larger meets at home versus several regional rivals.
Away from home, head-to-head showdowns with West Virginia and Michigan State highlight the schedule, while the Purdue Invitational in the fall and the ACC Championships in the spring present the Panthers with chances to perform in peak conditions against the nation’s best.
“We’re excited that we’ve added more home meets to the schedule. Any time we can compete in front of our fans at Trees Pool, we truly embrace that opportunity,” Hargis said. “We’re also looking forward to two new meets early in the season. The FIU TYR Classic has a unique, strategic format that should be a lot of fun in Florida, and the Purdue Invitational in November is another exciting addition to the schedule that is held in a top-notch facility that has hosted NCAAs. We wanted this schedule to provide new challenges and different opportunities for our athletes to help them prepare for the championship season.”
Pitt begins the campaign with a relay meet against Carnegie Mellon at Trees Pool on Sept. 27, with a 5 p.m. start slated for the brief encounter with the Tartans.
The Panthers will then head south to Boca Raton, Fla., for the Florida International TYR Classic in early October before returning home to host Duquesne, Villanova and Youngstown State in a LCM (long course meters) quad meet at Trees Pool on Saturday, Oct. 12 at 1 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 18 will see Pitt face off against Michigan State in East Lansing, while the Panthers will welcome Notre Dame to Trees Pool for an ACC dual meet on the weekend of Nov. 8-9.
The Purdue Invitational on Nov. 21-23 will serve as the team’s fall invite this year as the Panthers look to set numerous personal and school records while contending for event victories against top competition.
The Pitt Christmas Meet will once again light up Trees Pool as the traditional holiday meet is scheduled for Dec. 12-15.
After the New Year, Pitt and West Virginia will continue their traditional Backyard Brawl matchup in early January when the Panthers and Mountaineers meet in Morgantown on Saturday, Jan. 4.
Pitt concludes its regular season with a trio of home meets as Denison (Jan. 17) and Ohio State (Feb. 1) come to Trees Pool around the weekend of the Western Pennsylvania Invitational (Jan. 24-25).
This season’s ACC Championships will once against be held at the Greensboro Aquatic Center near the conference headquarters in North Carolina. The women’s swimming meet and all diving events will take place from Feb. 19-22, while the men’s swimming events will be contested from Feb. 26-29.
To round out the collegiate campaign, the Panthers who qualify for the 2020 NCAA Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships will travel to Athens, Ga., for that event from March 18-21, while the upcoming NCAA Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships will be held in Indianapolis from March 25-28.