Big 12 Weekly Preview: Texas Travels to Florida with Indiana, Kansas hosts Tri-Meet

Photo Courtesy: Andy Ringgold/Aringo

By Jason Tillotson

The University of Texas men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will travel to Gainesville, Florida, on Saturday to take on the Gators and The Indiana Hoosiers. Meanwhile Kansas will host South Dakota and Missouri State.

Though a mix of conferences (Big-12, Big-10, SEC) are competing, this matchup brings together some of the nation’s fastest swimmers.

On the men’s side, all three teams will be looking to open up their dual meet season with a win. This two-day tri-meet has an unusual format. The evening session on Friday will be long course meters, which is something UF has done in the recent Olympic years but not usually in non-Olympic years. The morning session will likely be contested in short course yards, as has been the case in the past.

You’ll recall Indiana was the team to walk away with the win at this meet last year, with heavy hitters like Blake Pieroni and Ian Finnerty leading the way for the Hoosiers. Both athletes are returning for this season.

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Photo Courtesy: Andy Ringgold/Aringo

Texas and Florida will most definitely bring their own point-scorers as well. Seniors Caeleb Dressel, the nation’s leader in the 50 freestyle and Mark Szaranek will be looking to start their final seasons with the Gators with a win at The Swamp, while former Bolles teammate and Longhorn Senior Joseph Schooling will attempt to lead the longhorns to victory. This stacked tri-meet will also be the first time we see Dressel and Schooling go head-to-head since this summer’s World Championships, where Dressel was able to take down Schooling in his signature event, the 100 butterfly. Olympic gold medalist Townley Haas from Texas should be able to produce some fast swims, as well as senior longhorn Brett Ringgold.

The women will have their own showdown at the same meet. Texas Freshman Victoria Edwards will attempt catapult her first collegiate season while veteran Quinn Carrozza will be looking for a strong start to her first season as an upperclassmen. This meet will also be the first time we see Lilly King after her word-record setting summer. The lady Gators will be looking to spark some momentum after last year’s disappointing season, where they failed to score any points at the NCAA championships.

Kansas, one of two teams in the Big-12 with only a women’s squad, will host South Dakota and Missouri State. Kansas will be looking to continue their strong season after a narrow win over Liberty last weekend.

WVU, TCU and Iowa state left their schedules blank this weekend in preparation for their respective match-ups next weekend.

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