CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Head coaches Randy Ableman and Andy Kershaw of the Miami Hurricanes swimming & diving team released the program’s 2016-17 schedule Friday.
“We once again have a very challenging schedule this year and we cannot wait to get it rolling,” Kershaw said. “We have a very strong senior class, both in talent and character, and I am excited to have them lead us into battle. I have a lot of respect for all of the programs that we will be competing against and feel that it will give our women the opportunity to race against some of the best in the country.”
The Hurricanes, who last year totaled the most wins in a season (seven) since 2010-11, will participate in a number of standard dual meets and tri-meets, but will also take part in weekend-long competitions in championship format.
“Ultimately this schedule will prepare them for success at NCAA Championships and ACC Championships, one of the fastest conference championships in the country,” Kershaw said.
Miami will look to build off last season’s momentum when it opens the year Sept. 23-25 at the All-Florida Invite hosted by Nova Southeastern. Other early competitions include the team’s dual meet opener against crosstown foe FIU (Sept. 30) at the Whitten University Center Pool and a trip to Dallas for the annual SMU Classic (Oct. 14-15).
Teams competing in Dallas include Louisville, Missouri, Southern Cal and UCLA.
“Our team will get tested right out of the gate, starting with a three-day competition at All-Florida,” Kershaw said. “The very next week we will host FIU in our very first night meet under the lights at our new pool. The SMU Classic is another meet in which we will be tested to the max…I expect that these early tests will establish some great character early in the season, and we will rely on that throughout the season.”
The Canes will travel to South Bend, Ind., to take part in a quad-meet hosted by Notre Dame (Oct. 28) along with Rutgers and Purdue before returning home for a dual meet against Princeton (Nov. 4).
“Our schedule also gives the team an opportunity to have some great student-athlete experiences, which is another important goal we have when designing our schedule,” Kershaw said. “A great combination of competition and experience will happen at the end of October, when we travel to South Bend to take on three great teams on Friday and then attend the Miami-Notre Dame football game on Saturday. We are so fortunate to have a university and an athletic department that supports our student-athletes in a way that allows them to get the most out of their experience as a Hurricane.”
After a trip to the NC State Invite (Nov. 17-19), the Hurricanes will split for U.S. Swimming Nationals (Nov. 30-Dec. 3) and the divers will be attending an invite held at IUPUI, where the NCAA Championships will be held later in the year.
“It goes without saying that we have one of the best diving programs in the country, and it is important that we make the right scheduling decisions to continue that tradition while we build our swimming program into one of the best in the country,” Kershaw said. “With our ultimate focus being NCAAs and ACCs, we each need to do the right thing to be our best at those competitions, and we have methodically chosen the right competitions to compete together and the right competitions to be at different locations.”
The Hurricanes will open the spring season by hosting Florida and Colorado State in a tri-meet (Jan. 7), and will make the short trip to Fort Myers, Fla., for a dual meet with host FGCU on Jan. 21.
“In the spring we try to limit travel demands on the athletes as rest and recovery start to be more and more important. We also realize that they will be missing big chunks of class time for ACCs and NCAAs, so we try to limit the missed class time prior to that,” Kershaw said. “The University of Florida is a storied program and I am excited that [head coach] Gregg Troy and I were able to agree on a time to compete. Colorado State had planned to be here training during that time, and it will be great to go against a program that we haven’t competed against.”
A Senior Day dual meet with Nova Southeastern (Jan. 28) will mark the end of the regular season schedule. Postseason begins with the ACC Swimming & Diving Championships (Feb. 15-18) and the NCAA Zone Diving Championships. The NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships will be held in Indianapolis from March 15-18.
“We are proud to say that we measure our season by NCAA Championship success first and ACC Championship success as a close second,” Kershaw said. “Our regular season schedule should prepare us to have a great postseason, and we will have a blast developing our team character in the tough competitions leading up to the championships. As I said, I cannot wait to get the season rolling.”
Swimming news courtesy Miami Athletics
2016-2017 Swimming & Diving Schedule, Miami Hurricanes
