Jan. 17, 2003

COLUMBIA, Mo. -

The University of Missouri men's and women's swimming and diving team return to Columbia, Missouri to take on the Bears of Southwest Missouri State in a nonconference dual meet in the University Natatorium tomorrow at 2:00 p.m.

Both the men's and women's teams are coming off their training meet in Tempe, Arizona. While in Tempe both teams competed in a Tri-meet against host Arizona State and Wyoming. The 21st-ranked women's team lost their first dual meet in over two years, falling to 18th-ranked Arizona State, 195-92. The loss snapped the NCAA's second longest active dual winning streak at 18. The women rebounded to defeat Wyoming, 143-136. The women are now 9-1 in duals heading into today's match-up.

The men's team dropped both duals. Losing to 12th-ranked Arizona State, 212-67 and losing a close one to Wyoming, 143-136. The men's team falls to 3-4 in duals this season.

The SMS men's and women's swimming teams are both coming off losses against Texas Christian University on January 11. The men's team lost 72-68, and the women fell 78-62.

The SMS men's team returns the nucleus of a team that finished second in the Missouri Valley Conference. They are ranked #2 in the last CollegeSwimming.com Mid-Major poll and head into today's match-up with a dual record of 4-2.

The strength of the men's team are their distance and diving events. Two Bears to watch are distance swimmer Eric Binter and diver Johnathan Waldon.

The SMS women's team is currently ranked #6 in the CollegeSwimming.com Mid-Major poll. They have a dual record of 4-3. They are a young team (14 newcomers), but return 22 letterwinners from a squad that finished third in the Missouri Valley Conference Championships.

Senior breaststroker Brianna McGuirk holds four school records and is a three-time MVC 200 breaststroke champion.

Last season the Tigers split with SMS in Springfield, Mo. The women's team defeated the Bears, 167-71. The men's team did not fare as well, falling to the Bears, 144-97.