CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami swimming team will be competing in the NC State GAC Invite at the Greensboro Aquatic Center from Nov. 17-19, while the Hurricanes divers will road trip to the House of Champions meet hosted by IUPUI in Indianapolis from Nov. 18-20.
“I’m very excited for the weekend. Great competition, great teams here,” head swimming coach Andy Kershaw said. “That’s certainly a good part of it – you get to see some good competition. It’s our midseason invitational, so we give them a little bit of rest for this. I’m looking forward to seeing them be better than they’ve been so far this year.”
Joining the Hurricanes in Greensboro are a number of talented teams, including the host Wolfpack, North Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia and Notre Dame, among others.
Kershaw said he is looking forward to gaining a better idea of where the team stands, given their comfort level heading into the meet.
Junior Julie Suarez (500-yard freestyle) and senior Angela Algee (100 butterfly) are Miami’s two top-seeded swimmers for the weekend, but Kershaw is looking forward to seeing the entire roster compete – including sophomore Sydney Story, who returns from injury for her first competition of the season.
“We had been training very hard [earlier this season], and we’ve been giving them a little bit of rest in preparation for this,” Kershaw said. “I’m excited for our team, from top to bottom, really…looking forward to seeing everything. I’m really looking forward to seeing our relays as well, and seeing what we can do when we put four people together in suits with a little bit of rest.
“That will give us a good idea of where we’re at and stacking it up against some great teams that are here.”
The Hurricanes are coming off a 151-147 dual meet win over Princeton on Homecoming. Algee and freshman Manon Viguier, as well as Suarez, were among the Hurricanes top contributors in the win to keep Miami undefeated in its home pool. Diver Marcela Maric also helped key the victory.
While the Hurricanes swimmers will be competing against many familiar ACC foes, the divers will be traveling to the House of Champions meet hosted by IUPUI – the same pool they plan on competing in later in the year at the 2017 NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships.
“The diving team competing elsewhere will certainly hurt us on the point side, but it’s one of the great things about our program –we’re willing to do whatever is right for both disciplines, to make sure that when it gets towards the end of the year, it’s the right thing for both teams,” Kershaw said. “That’s an important thing here.”
Miami divers will be joined by divers from host IUPUI, Purdue, Florida State, Missouri State, Evansville and other schools.
For updates throughout the weekend, visit HurricaneSports.com or follow the swimming & diving team on Twitter (@CanesSwimDive).