Denver Pioneers Release 2016-2017 Schedule

DENVER – The University of Denver men’s and women’s swimming and diving program and 11-year head coach Brian Schrader set the Pioneers’ 2016-17 schedule on Wednesday, a campaign that will be kick-started by the Denver Relays on October 8 at El Pomar Natatorium.

“This might be the most diverse and competitive schedule we have faced,” Schrader said. “Our fall season sets up well for us to try to make NCAA standards against the NCAA’s best at Texas, and our winter schedule leads us into the Summit League with a great training trip in Florida and swimming against some of the best in the Big Ten at home. Boise, Utah and Harvard will all be meets that go down to the wire. We have the core of our teams back, with the addition of some outstanding first year athletes. Our staff is looking forward to seeing how we react to this level of competition.”

Following the Denver Relays, the women’s program will head to the Dual-a-Palooza (Oct. 14-15) in Houston, Texas. The following week the men’s first trip of the season is to Stockton, Calif., for the Pacific Invite (Oct. 21-22). Denver’s women will host Colorado State at El Pomar while the men are in California.

The men’s and women’s program will end October together with a trip to Arizona State on October 29.

Denver will take most of November off, before both swimming programs head to the University of Texas Invite, a four-day event in Austin, Texas. Near the end of a December training trip to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the Pioneers will wrap-up 2016 at FAU (Dec. 17).

DU’s 2017 slate starts with a diving meet against Harvard on January 4 before both the men’s and women’s programs travel to Salt Lake City to take on Harvard (men only) and hosts Utah.

The Crimson and Gold will honor their 2017 senior class on January 13-14 in a meet with Minnesota and Wyoming. Denver’s women will have one more home team meet on January 21 when the program welcomes Boise State to the Mile High City.

DU’s divers will head to Colorado Springs for a two-day meet at the Air Force Academy Diving Invitational January 27-28.

Denver’s final team meet before NCAA competition will be the 2017 Summit League Championships in Indianapolis. Both programs will look to defend their back-to-back-to-back Summit League Championships at the four-day meet in the middle of February (Feb. 15-18).

“I’m excited that the Summit League is going to be the first Division I league in the country to have the 100 individual medley at its Championships,” Schrader said. “Moving the 100 fly off of day three into day two is also very exciting, making it possible for those athletes that might swim in the 200 free the ability to do both, while also making the 100 fly/100 back double more performance oriented.”

Earlier this offseason, Denver announced its 13-member incoming men’s swimming class, its three-member incoming diving class and its six-member incoming women’s swimming class for the 2016-17 season.