The University of Miami swimming & diving team opens its home schedule Friday with a 6 p.m. dual meet against FIU at the Whitten University Center Pool.
“It’s actually going to be the first time we’ve done a meet under the lights at the newly renovated pool,” head swimming coach Andy Kershaw said. “That, I think, adds an element of excitement to it – it’s Friday night under the lights at our home pool, and it’s our first home meet of the year. Those are the exciting parts of it.”
The Hurricanes opened their season last weekend at the All-Florida Invite hosted by Nova Southeastern, and finished the three-day competition in second place.
“Swimming is a little different beast from a lot of sports, in that the season builds on itself,” Kershaw said. “You always want to win, and you’re always competing, but it all builds towards a few key meets throughout the year. Some of the other meets leading up to those are part of the preparation.”
Miami’s top point-getter from the opening weekend was junior Julie Suarez, who delivered several impressive performances.
“I don’t know what to expect, but I’m super excited,” Suarez said of Friday’s meet. “I’m sure everybody will be excited to get to the pool at night and under the lights, and I think we’ll have a big crowd. It’s our crosstown rival, so it should be an exciting meet.”
Senior Cameron Davis echoed Suarez’s excitement about competing under the lights for the first time.
“We just got our pool redone, and we had one meet last year, but we’ve never had a meet under the lights,” Davis said. “It’s our crosstown rival, and we have a lot of fun competing as a team. Under the lights makes it even more exciting and emphasizes the competition.”
The Hurricanes topped FIU, 205-95, in last year’s dual meet, its regular season finale before the ACC Swimming & Diving Championships.
Even after a strong second-place finish at All-Florida, Kershaw said he expects the Hurricanes to improve as the season moves forward.
“They key is, and what I told them going into the meet is, that I know they’re going to get faster,” Kershaw said. “Keeping all of that in perspective, I think it was a great first weekend. We still have a lot to do.”
For updates from Friday’s dual meet, follow @CanesSwimDive on Twitter and visit HurricaneSports.com.