After a week off from competition, the No. 24 FGCU swimming and diving team travels to Atlanta, Ga., for the Georgia Tech Invite at the McAuley Aquatics Center fromThursday, Nov. 19 to Saturday, Nov. 21. The swimming preliminaries will start at 10 a.m. each day with the finals starting at 6 p.m. The diving preliminary and final events will start an hour after the swimming events.
“We’re excited to see the girls race under some great conditions at Georgia Tech,” said FGCU head coach Neal Studd. “I’m hoping they can take another step forward as we prepare for championship season in the spring.”
This weekend’s field includes a trio of nationally-ranked opponents as No. 18 Alabama, No. 21 Arkansas and No. 46 South Carolina are all set to compete in the three-day invite. It will mark the Eagles first competition against the Tide and Razorbacks this year. Earlier this season, FGCU defeated the Gamecocks by a 48.5-point margin at the FGCU Classic.
A season ago, FGCU finished fourth among the 17-team women’s field that made up the Georgia Tech Invite. The Green and Blue finished behind Florida, Arkansas and Florida State and placed ahead of Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech, FAU, Miami, South Carolina, Auburn and Clemson, among other programs.
Through six meets this season, the Eagles have built an impressive resume with four dual-meet wins over nationally-ranked opponents in No. 33 Notre Dame (158-104), No. 35 Boise State (159-140), No. 44 Utah (165-135) and No. 31 FSU (220.5-132.5) and remain in College Swimming’s top 25 ahead of Ohio State, Kentucky, Minnesota, LSU, Arkansas, Virginia Tech and FSU among other prominent programs. Additionally, the Eagles are less than 10 points shy of cracking the nation’s top 20. In the Mid-Major poll, the Eagles have distanced themselves from the field as they hold more than a 24-point advantage over No. 2 Nevada. Yale, Denver and Villanova round out the Mid-Major top five. Additionally, the Green and Blue have received votes in each of the last two installments of the CSCAA Top 25.