University of Missouri
Louisville
No. 8/13 Mizzou Swimming & Diving Opens New Year with Road Meet At No. 13/14 Louisville
1/14/2021 9:52:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The No. 8/13 Mizzou men's and women's swimming and diving teams return to action on Friday, Jan. 15 when the squads take on No. 13/14 Louisville at Ralph Wright Natatorium in Louisville, Ky. The womens' programs will face-off in an unscored meet at 9 a.m. CT, while the men will compete at 12:30 p.m. CT. Additionally, the diving programs will return to the boards against each other on Saturday, Feb. 16 at 11 a.m. CT.
LAST TIME OUT
The Tigers have been idle since the three-day Mizzou Invite in November, where the men won the team title with 1,275 points and the women finished second with 862 points.
Mizzou won a combined 20 event titles during the meet, including juniors Danny Kovac and Jack Dubois who each won three. Also with multiple event titles were junior Jack Dahlgren and sophomore Katrina Brathwaite with two apiece.
SCOUTING LOUISVILLE
The Cardinals enter the meet ranked 13th on the men's side and 14th on the women's side in the CSCAA rankings. Last week, the Louisville men defeated No. 21 Notre Dame, 152-148, while the women fell 158-141.
TIGERS IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Following the Mizzou Invite, a total of 12 Tigers found themselves ranked nationally in the top 25 of their respective events, including four Tigers who are ranked in the top 10.
Senior Sarah Thompson and Megan Keil are ranked two-three in the women's 50 free, with Thompson second and Keil third. Thompson is also ranked eighth in the 100 free. On the men's side, junior Danny Kovac is ranked in five different events, including third in the 100 fly and seventh in the 200 IM, while sophomore Ben Patton comes in at fifth in the 100 breast.
KOVAC, DAHLGREN TO COMPETE IN SAN ANTONIO TYR PRO SWIM SERIES
Juniors Danny Kovac and Jack Dahlgren will not swim against Louisville and instead compete at the San Antonio TYR Pro Swim Series meet, held Jan. 14-17 at the North East ISD Blossom Athletic Complex in San Antonio, Texas.
Kovac is scheduled to swim the 50m free, 100m free, 100m fly and 200m IM, while Dahlgren is set to compete in the 200m free, 100m fly, 200m fly, 100m back and 200m back.
GUTIERREZ NAMED TO 2021 U.S. NATIONAL JUNIOR TEAM
Sophomore Joseph Gutierrez was named to the USA Swimming 2020-2021 U.S. National Junior Team, USA Swimming announced. Gutierrez was chosen as an open water selection for the second year in a row. Gutierrez earned a spot on the National Junior Team thanks to his performance at the 2019 USA Swimming 10K Open Water Championships. The freshman placed 18th overall in the event but third amongst 18-and-under athletes with a time of 1:57.25.90. The top six 18-and-under finishers at the Championships were named to the National Junior Team.
MIZZOU TO HOST SEC DIVING, MEN'S SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Mizzou will host the 2021 Southeastern Conference Men's and Women's Diving and Men's Swimming Championships in an updated format for the event. The Championships will now feature three separate event: men's and women's diving, women's swimming and men's swimming. Mizzou will host men's and women's diving, Feb. 17-20, and men's swimming Feb. 23-26, both at the Mizzou Aquatic Center. The University of Georgia will host the women's swimming meet, also set for Feb. 17-20, at Gabrielsen Natatorium, in Athens, Ga.
Mizzou last hosted the SEC Swimming & Diving Championships in 2016 and was scheduled to host the full 2021 meet before the format change.
Players Mentioned
