SEC Weekly Preview: Florida-Auburn, Georgia-Tennessee, Kentucky-Louisville in Rivalry Week

There will be three pretty intense dual meet rivalries in the SEC this week.

Two of them are within the conference with showdowns that could prove to be telling heading into the SEC championships.

Florida will swim at Auburn and Georgia will swim at Tennessee. Both meets are on Saturday.

The third rivalry is an interconference rivalry that is one of the best proximity rivalries in any sport. Louisville out of the ACC will swim at SEC power Kentucky on Saturday.

The Florida men lost nearly three quarters of their NCAA points from a fifth-place finish last year, including Swimmer of the Year Caeleb Dressel.

But the Gators have already made a statement that they can contend for the SEC championship.

Florida is coming off of an impressive double victory against No. 14 Ohio State and No. 25 Kentucky.

Maxime Rooney was huge for the Gators, winning the 200 and 100 free events. He swam to an NCAA “B” cut in the 200 free.

Photo Courtesy: Dan D’Addona

The Florida women also swept ranked Ohio State and Kentucky on Jan. 5, led by another Dressel.

Sherridon Dressel had the best meet of her career. During the two-day meet, she was a part of seven victories in her eight events. On day two alone, she added victories in the 50 Free, 100 Free, and the 200 Free Relay. She notched a season-best time of 49.04, good for an NCAA B Cut, in her 100 Free win.

Dressel posted a season-best mark of 49.04 in her 100 Free win on day two, it was also the fastest time in the SEC since Dec. 4 and 11th fastest for the year in the SEC. Dressel’s time in the 100 Free is the second-fastest mark in the NCAA in more than a month. She posted an NCAA B Cut in the 100 Back with a time of 52.79, which is also the fastest time in the conference and the NCAA since Dec. 4. The 200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay, and 200 Medley Relay teams that Dressel was on posted the fastest times in the NCAA in more than a month.

There will be a couple of invites in the SEC this weekend as Missouri will host the Tiger Invite on Friday and Saturday. South Carolina will also host a two-day invite on Friday and Saturday.

Click here for more SEC coverage.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use