PISCATAWAY, N.J. (August 10, 2016) – Rutgers swimming and diving announced its schedule for the 2016-17 season, which includes five meets at the RU Aquatics Center and showdowns with multiple Big Ten Conference opponents.
“We compete in one of the best conferences in the country, so we need to prepare and contend on the highest level the whole season,” said head coach Petra Martin. “Our schedule is exciting and competitive. It provides great opportunities for our student-athletes to challenge themselves physically and mentally on the highest level while getting us ready for the Big Ten Conference and NCAA Championships.”
The Scarlet Knights see four Big Ten opponents (Illinois, Northwestern, Penn State and Purdue) and three teams ranked in the final 2016 CSCAA Coaches Poll (No. 18 Purdue, No. 21 Penn State and No. 25 Yale).
RU participates in its intersquad meet on Sept. 27 before it begins the season at the Florida Gulf Coast Classic (Oct. 7-8) in Fort Myers, Florida. At last year’s FGCU Classic, Rutgers finished fourth out of six teams with three individual race titles.
The Scarlet Knights arrive home on Oct. 15 for its annual “Alumni Meet” and will then embark on a road trip that features three conference foes in the span of two days. RU meets Miami (Fla.), Notre Dame and Purdue on Oct. 28 in South Bend, Indiana, then travels to Evanston, Illinois on Oct. 29 to face the Fighting Illini and Northwestern.
Rutgers returns home for its annual quad meet with Georgetown, Seton Hall and Villanova (Nov. 4-5) at the RU Aquatics Center. Last season, The Scarlet Knights defeated the Hoyas and Pirates but fell to the Wildcats.
The program will send athletes to the Big Ten versus the USA National Team meet from Nov. 11-13 in Indianapolis before hosting the Frank Elm Invitational (Nov. 18-20). That same weekend, RU’s divers compete in the V-Tech Cup at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center in Christiansburg, Virginia. Rutgers closes out its fall schedule with a trip to Providence, Rhode Island for the Big Al Invitational from Dec. 12-14.
RU begins the spring semester portion of its season with a tri-meet against Penn State and Yale in University Park, Pennsylvania (Jan. 13-14). Both the Nittany Lions and Bulldogs finished the 2016 season ranked inside the CSCAA top-25. The following weekend (Jan. 20-21), the Scarlet Knights return to Virginia Tech to face the Hokies along with Cincinnati.
Rutgers concludes its home schedule when it hosts Richmond for Senior Day on Jan. 28. The Spiders captured the 2016 Atlantic 10 Championship with 653 team points.
The Big Ten Championships take place from February 15-18 at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center in West Lafayette, Indiana. Rutgers placed 10th at last year’s conference championships with seven top-eight finishes and two school records.
Rutgers returns three athletes who broke school records and three who participated in the 2016 NCAA Championships. Rising senior Alyssa Black finished as an Honorable Mention All-American in the 3-meter dive, while rising junior Addison Walkowiak and rising sophomore Francesca Stoppa also represented RU at the NCAA Championships.
The Scarlet Knight’s complete schedule is listed below. The program’s promotional schedule for its home meets will be released at a later date.
| Date | Event/Opponent | Location | Time |
| Sept. 27 | Intersquad Meet | RU Aquatics Center | 2 p.m. |
| Oct. 7-8 | FGCU Swimming Classic | Fort Myers, Fla. | 5:30 p.m./10:30 a.m. |
| Oct. 15 | Alumni Meet | RU Aquatics Center | 9:30 a.m. |
| Oct. 28 | Miami (Fla.), Notre Dame & Purdue* | South Bend, Ind. | TBA |
| Oct. 29 | Illinois* & Northwestern* | Evanston, Ill. | 1 p.m. |
| Nov. 4-5 | Georgetown, Seton Hall & Villanova | RU Aquatics Center | TBA |
| Nov. 11-13 | B1G vs. USA National Team | Indianapolis, Ind. | TBA |
| Nov. 17-19 | V-Tech Cup (Divers Only) | Christiansburg, Va. | TBA |
| Nov. 18-20 | Frank Elm Invitational (Swimmers Only) | RU Aquatics Center | TBA |
| Dec. 2-4 | Big Al Invitational | Providence, R.I. | 10 a.m./6 p.m. |
| Jan. 13-14 | Penn State* & Yale | University Park, Pa. | 6 p.m./11 a.m. |
| Jan. 20-21 | Cincinnati & Virginia Tech | Christiansburg, Va. | 5 p.m./10 a.m. |
| Jan. 28 | Richmond | RU Aquatics Center | 10 a.m. |
| Feb. 15-18 | Big Ten Championships | West Lafayette, Ind. | TBA |
| Feb. 24-26 | ECAC Championships (Last Chance Meet) | TBA | TBA |
| March 6-8 | Zone Diving Championships | Christiansburg, Va. | TBA |
| March 15-18 | NCAA Championships | Indianapolis, Ind. | TBA |
This swimming story is courtesy of Rutgers Athletics.