With the regular season in the books, Alabama swimming and diving starts the first leg of the postseason, the 2017 Southeastern Conference Championships, this Tuesday in Knoxville, Tenn., at the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center.
“The last few weeks of the season, we’ve kind of cut down the workload and worked on sharpening up some of our skills, resting and storing the energy we’re going to need for the big week ahead of us,” UA head coach Dennis Pursley said.
The Alabama men, which finished fourth last season when the championships were in Columbia, Mo., come into this year’s championships with 19 swimmers and a pair of divers. The men have plenty of experience, with 10 seniors earning a spot in the meet and just three freshmen on the championship roster. In between there are five juniors and three sophomores.
On the women’s side of the slate, the Tide, which finished 10th in 2016, is sending 22 student-athletes, including 19 swimmers and three divers to this year’s meet. The women’s roster is heavier with newcomers, including five freshmen and nine sophomores. A total of eight upperclassmen are in the mix for the UA women, including five juniors and just three seniors.
“Most of our student-athletes are competing at a higher level going into this year’s meet than they have been in previous years, and that bodes well for us,” Pursley said. “So we’re really excited going into this week.”
Senior Connor Oslin leads the way for the Tide men as the two-time defending SEC 100 backstroke champion. Sophomore Laurent Bams, the 2016 SEC Male Freshman of the Year, earned a top-eight finish in the 100 freestyle as a rookie, while junior Christopher Reid was top-eight on the 100 and 200 backstroke in 2016. Senior Anton McKee, a past SEC Champion in the 200 breaststroke, finished in the top eight in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke last season.
For the women, senior Bridget Blood is the top returning individual finisher after turning in a runner-up finish in the 100 breaststroke at last year’s SEC Championships. Blood also posted a top-eight finish in the 200 breaststroke.
The goal for both teams remains to move up the ladder, both on the conference and national level. The Tide men finished sixth at last year’s NCAA Championships while the women were 28th. A strong showing at the SEC Championships will go a long toward both teams continuing to climb nationally.
The meet starts Tuesday with the men’s 1-meter springboard, the women’s 3-meter springboard and the men’s and women’s 200 medley and 800 freestyle relays. The competition stretches for over the next four days, concluding Saturday night with prelims and finals each day.
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News courtesy of Alabama Athletics.