SEC Weekly Swim Preview: Georgia Opens NCAA Title Defense vs. UNC

Georgia's Olivia Smoliga. Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

By Dan D’Addona.

The college swimming season takes its first big lap this week with plenty of strong matchups to get things rolling. Here is what to watch for in the SEC:

Meet of the Week: Georgia at North Carolina

The defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs face ACC power North Carolina in the women’s season opener this weekend. Olivia Smoliga leads the Bulldogs into the Friday, Oct. 7, meet in Chapel Hill, N.C., against the Tar Heels, who finished 15^th at the NCAA championships last year.

Smoliga won the NCAA title in the 50- and 100-meter freestyles (claiming the 50 in an NCAA record 21.21 seconds) and swam the second-fastest 100 backstroke of the meet, though it came in the consolation finals. Her breakout year continued throughout the summer as she won the 100-meter backstroke at the U.S. Olympic trials to qualify for Rio. She won a gold medal as part of the medley relay team.

Smoliga will be joined by Kylie Stewart, Megan Kingsley and Emily Cameron — all returning All-Americans — giving the Bulldogs a boost after losing a couple of key swimmers. Georgia will be without Olympian Hali Flickinger (200 butterfly) as well as national champion Brittany MacLean (200 freestyle), who graduated as national champions last year.

The Tar Heels will be led by 100 butterfly All-American Hellen Moffitt and diver Elissa Dawson.

Meanwhile, the men’s meet will feature the return of Olympian Chase Kalisz, who competed in Rio in the 400 IM after taking a redshirt for the 2015-16 season to focus on training for Rio. The senior joins coach Jack Bauerle and the Bulldogs this season, who also feature fellow Olympians Jay Litherland and Gunnar Bentz.

There are plenty of other storylines to watch in this meet, which is one of the most exciting season openers in recent history.

Wisconsin vs. Auburn

The Auburn swim team will split up this weekend, hosting the War Eagle Invitational from Friday, Oct. 7 to Sunday, Oct. 9. The Tigers also will compete at Wisconsin on Saturday, Oct. 8. The Badgers have a trio of preseason All-Americans in Cierra Runge, Chase Kinney and Beata Nelson who are looking to get a fast start to their season when they host Auburn on Saturday, Oct. 8. Wisconsin finished 21^st at the NCAA championships last season and are looking to build the program back into a top-10 team behind this talented trio. Auburn, meanwhile, is looking to bounce back from a 33^rd place finish at the NCAA meet. The Tigers were a perennial top 10 team and are looking to return to that form, as the men’s team did, finishing 10^th at NCAAs. Auburn is led by Michael Duderstadt, Peter Holoda and Hugo Morris, who each earned preseason All-American honors. The Badgers were 18^th, making this men’s matchup pretty intriguing, too.

LSU/South Carolina at FGCU Classic

The LSU women had an early start to the season and are coming off of a 200-61 win over Vanderbilt on Sept. 23. The Tigers will have two meets this weekend. LSU will head to the Florida Gulf Coast Classic on Friday, Oct. 7 and Saturday, Oct. 8. This meet will have teams from all over the country and will be a good test for LSU after winning a lopsided season opener. LSU also will compete against Loyola in New Orleans on Oct. 8.

Tennessee at UNC-Wilmington

With the departure of sprinters Faith Johnson and Harper Bruens, the Tennessee Volunteers will rely on All-Americans Kira Toussaint and Madeline Tegner this season. Toussaint, an Olympian for the Netherlands, will be a key cog in the backstrokes and on relays, while Tegner is a butterfly and freestyle specialist that could be a national championship contender by the end of the season. On the men’s side, Tennessee will lean on distance specialist David Heron. The junior was named to the national team.

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