Miami Set for 24th Annual SMU Classic

CORAL GABLES, Fla. –  Nine members of the University of Miami swimming & diving team will make the trip to Lewisville, Texas, for the 24^th annual SMU Classic at the Westside Aquatic Center Oct. 13-14.

The Hurricanes will be competing in a loaded field that includes host SMU, Louisville, Michigan, UCLA and USC.

“We’ve got a great group here with us. I’m very excited about the team we’re bringing,” head swimming coach Andy Kershaw said. “It’s a great representation of our program and the whole team is on board with this one. I’m very excited to see how this representation does.”

The weekend will represent a homecoming of sorts for Kershaw, with the Hurricanes returning to a school where he spent 10 years on the coaching staff, the final three as associate head coach.

 “It’s certainly special to me. I think anyone that has experience in collegiate swimming thinks highly of this meet – I think that’s obvious from the teams that are going and the level of competition that’s going to be there,” he said.

Head diving coach Randy Ableman will be looking to build on the success of Marcela Maric at the 2016 SMU Classic, where she took fourth in the 1-meter and second in the 3-meter.

The SMU Classic features eight swimmers and one diver from each competing school. Swimmers may swim three events per day, one of which must be a relay. Each team will enter one swimmer per heat (Consolation & Championship), while relays will only have a Championship heat.

Diving events will consist of six optional dives on 1-meter and 3-meter boards.

 “There are some really highly ranked teams, teams that we have a ton of respect for and coaches that I have a ton of respect for,” Kershaw said. “We can’t wait to go up against them and see where we match up, see what we can learn and how much we’ve progressed since our last competition.

“We’ll be representing ‘The U’ with pride.”

Event Schedule