The University of Georgia swimming & diving program has released its schedule for the upcoming NCAA season.
Two of the biggest meets on their schedule are dual meets with Florida and Tennessee, two other premier teams in the Southeastern Conference. Their dual with Florida highlights their first semester schedule, as they’ll travel to Gainesville the weekend of October 26th for a day of diving and then a day of racing. The fall will also see the Bulldogs take on ACC opponents UNC and Georgia Tech along with B1G face-offs with Wisconsin and Northwestern, with the ACC meets being home and the B1G meets being away.
In addition to their Tennessee dual in January, they’ll swim against LSU and Division III powerhouse Emory during the second semester. Their January Emory dual will actually be their 2nd time racing the Eagles in the 2017-18 season, as they’ll be their first meet in the fall on September 27th.
The Georgia women are coming off of a 4th place finish at the 2017 NCAA Championships. They were hit hard in the sprint group with alums Chantal van Landeghem, Olivia Smoliga, and Emily Cameron, among others, no longer NCAA-eligible. They did reload in a big way, though, with SwimSwam’s #1 recruit in the class of 2017 Courtney Harnish, along with Canadian prospect Olivia Anderson and Carmel IM/back standout Sammie Burchill. The UGA women definitely have the talent to sweep their dual meet season and go undefeated.
The men finished 8th at NCAAs last season, and they’ll have some big losses to deal with, including World Champion Chase Kalisz, World Champs semifinalist Pace Clark, and top backstroker Taylor Dale. Camden Murphy is a very good sprint butterflier coming in for them, and while they’ll still have a strong team this upcoming season, their sprints continue to be a weak spot for them.