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The Georgia swimming and diving teams will be the first UGA squads to compete in 2015 as they have events in two different locations this weekend.
The swimming teams will visit South Carolina for a dual meet on Saturday at 10 a.m., while the diving squads will compete in the Tennessee Invitational Saturday through Monday.
The Lady Bulldogs are ranked No. 2 with a 7-0 record, while the the Bulldogs are No. 3 at 5-1.
These competitions will mark the first for Georgia since the UGA Fall Invitational Dec. 5-7.
“Our kids worked extremely hard during the Christmas training,” Georgia head coach Jack Bauerle said. “We did a lot of great things at the invite, but no one rested on their laurels during December. We saw a lot of focus and lot of people striving to get better. We’re excited about competing against South Carolina and the opportunity to race again.”
Chase Kalisz has the nation’s fastest times in the 200 and 400 individual medley and he ranks fourth in the 200 butterfly. Several other Bulldogs have top-10 efforts this year: Michael Trice (50, 100 freestyle); Matias Koski (200, 500, 1,650 freestyle); Kevin Litherland (500, 1,000, 1,650 freestyle); Ty Stewart (200 individual medley, 200 butterfly, 200 backstroke); Nicolas Fink (100 and 200 breaststroke); Gunnar Bentz (200 and 400 individual medley); Pace Clark (200 butterfly); and Jay Litherland (400 individual medley).
On the women’s side, Amber McDermott has the fastest time in the country in the 1,000 freestyle and she is third in the 500 freestyle and fourth in the 400 individual medley. Additional Lady Bulldogs in the top 10 include Chantal Van Landeghem (50, 100 freestyle); Maddie Locus (50, 100 freestyle); Olivia Smoliga (100 freestyle); Jordan Mattern (200 freestyle); Hali Flickinger (500 freestyle, 200 butterfly, 400 individual medley); Brittany MacLean (1,000, 1,650 freestyle); Kylie Stewart (100, 200 backstroke); Annie Zhu (200 breaststroke, 400 individual medley); Lauren Harrington (100, 200 butterfly); Meaghan Raab (200 individual medley); and Emily Cameron (400 individual medley).
Bauerle is eligible to return to coaching competitions on Saturday following a Dec. 16 ruling by the NCAA Committee on Infractions. However, he had shoulder surgery on Dec. 23 and is not ready for travel yet. He is expected to coach the squads at home Jan. 10 against Texas.
South Carolina will provide live results on Saturday at GamecocksOnline.com.
At the Tennessee Invitational, Georgia and the host Vols will be joined by Auburn, Kentucky, LSU, Missouri, North Carolina State, SMU, Drexel, Iowa State, Richmond and Towson.
“Our December workouts went well and we’re looking forward about competing again,” Georgia diving coach Dan Laak said. “I’m happy that so many SEC teams will be there so that we can see how we match up with them before next month’s championship.”
The men’s 1-meter and women’s 3-meter springboard will be held on Saturday, followed by men’s 3-meter and women’s 1-meter on Sunday, then men’s and women’s platform on Monday.