Baltimore, Md.—UMBC head swimming and diving coach Chad Cradock announced the 2015-16 schedule for both the men’s and women’s squads. The Retrievers will look to defend their America East (women) and CCSA (men) championships this year, as both teams look to repeat for the first time since 2010-11.
“We are very excited about this year’s schedule,” Cradock said. “The meets prior to conference championships will help us focus on our ultimate goals which are conference championships.”
The Retrievers will look to defend their conference championships from a year ago which saw the women come from behind on the final day to win the America East. The men took control of the CCSA (Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association) from day one en route to the championship.
The Dawgs open the year with an exhibition meet against Bucknell on October 3. The first scored meet of the year will be at Rider one week later at 1:00 p.m. Following the meet with the Broncs, UMBC will host Navy on Oct. 16 at 4:00 p.m. and then welcome George Washington on Oct. 24. The meet with the Colonials will begin at 1:00 p.m.
UMBC will head to Blacksburg, Va. for a tri-meet with host Virginia Tech and Gardner-Webb starting at noon on Halloween.
November sees the Retrievers host Ivy League foe Penn at the aquatic complex on the 7th at 2:00 p.m. The only other meet before the winter break will be at George Mason, where UMBC will compete in the George Mason Invitational, Nov. 19-21.
Following the team’s training trip in Boca Raton, Fla., the squads will have a pair of meets to prepare for conference championships. The final home meet will be against Howard on Jan. 9 starting at 2:30 p.m. The meet will also serve as Senior Day, with ceremonies commencing prior to the meet. The regular season comes to a close at East Carolina on Jan. 23. Last year, the Pirates and Retrievers had a closely- contested meet, where the Pirate (men or women) won on the final relay of the day.
The women open up the postseason at the America East Championships on February 11-14. The championships will once again be held at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). Following the America East Championships, the Retrievers will travel to Annapolis for the ECAC Championships (February 26-28), as well as the NCAA Zone Diving Championships (March 7-9). Rising junior Emily Escobedo (New Rochelle, N.Y./Maria Regina) will look to return to the NCAA Championships, this year held at Georgia Tech on March 17-19.
The Retriever men head back to Athens, Ga. for the CCSA Championships on February 17-20. The men will also be in attendance at Navy for the ECAC Championships and NCAA Zone Diving Championships. The NCAA Championships for the men will be at Georgia Tech on March 24-26.
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2015-16 Men’s Swimming and Diving Schedule
2015-16 Women’s Swimming and Diving Schedule
Swimming news courtesy of UMBC Swimming & Diving.