NEW ORLEANS — The Tulane swimming and diving team is back in action on Saturday, kicking off its 2020-21 campaign on the road at Delta State.
“I am very excited to see our team compete,” head coach Leah Stancil said. “Competition is always a great assessment to help determine where we are in the season and how training has been benefiting the athletes. I am really proud of how hard the team has been working and of their ability to rise to our unorthodox situation. This will be fun!”
The dual meet begins at 10 a.m. in the Ronald G. Mayers Aquatics Center in Cleveland, Mississippi.
This year’s Olive and Blue roster features 16 returners and 10 freshmen. Seniors Courtney Barker, Jeni Griffin and Kate McDonald lead the Green Wave into their first meet back following an unexpected ending to last season.
“First off we’re really fortunate to be able to get back to competition and do so safely,” diving coach John Sirmon said. “It’s been a pretty long time since we’ve gotten to compete and while this meet will be different than pretty much anything we’ve done before, we’re still very excited. The divers have been working really hard since we were able to get back in the pool a little over a month ago and tomorrow is going to be a great chance for them to get scores and to get back in the rhythm of competition. We’re a young squad with three freshmen so the big thing I’m looking for is coming into the meet loose and staying consistent.”
Tulane wrapped up its 2019-20 regular season with the American Athletic Conference Championship in February but was unable to conclude the CSCAA Invitational or compete in the NCAA Championship due to COVID-19 cancellations.
Before the year was cut short, senior Olivia Johnson and freshman Lilly Byrne qualified to compete in the NCAA Championship.
The 200-medley relay is set to kick off Saturday’s meet, with McDonald, Barker, Danielle Titus and Mya Drost-Parra making up one team for Tulane and Riley Hendrix, Christiana Williams, Hailey Roberti and Drew Petereit making up the other.
Edie Newman and Jennifer Gougelmann will be swimming the 1000 freestyle in the next event, followed by Roberti, Noa Heron, Kate Amar and Isabelle Pelka in the 200 freestyle.
Griffin, Petereit, Ashley Carollo and Olivia Davison are next up in the 50 freestyle, followed by Williams, McDonald, Gianna Spremullo and Autumn Keats-O’Connor in the 200 IM.
Byrne, Drost-Parra, Roberti and Winter Craig hit the water in the 100 butterfly following a diving break. Keats-O’Connor, Petereit, Pelka and Gougelmann are then set to compete in the 100 freestyle.
The 100 backstroke is next up for Tulane, with Barker, Titus, Hendrix and Carollo representing the Wave in that event. Spremullo, Craig, Newman and Heron are next up in the 500 freestyle.
After another diving break, Griffin, McDonald, Williams and Davison wrap up the individual events in the 100 breaststroke. Two Green Wave teams will compete in the 200 freestyle relay, with Titus, Pelka, Barker and Byrne on one team and Hendrix, Craig, Carollo and Keats-O’Connor on the other.
Caroline Alonzo, Gabby Hebert, Katie Lipsey and Paige McKenzie will be competing in the diving events on Saturday.
The Green Wave last competed against the Fighting Okra in 2004, picking up a road win with a 105-34 score.
Follow the program on Facebook and Twitter (@GreenWaveSwim) and on Instagram (@TulaneSwimDive). Fans can also follow Tulane Athletics on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
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{Courtesy: Press Release from Tulane Athletics}