Feb. 17, 2009

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Everything the University of Alabama swimmers and divers have done to this point, all the yardage going back and forth, all the dives, from the last days of summer through to just a day ago, have been pointing to this week and this meet.

On Wednesday, the 2009 Southeastern Conference Swimming and Diving Championships get underway, with a handful of events followed by a full schedule on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

"We have worked extremely hard all season to be at our best for this meet," Alabama head coach Eric McIlquham said. "Our focus has been to be ready for the championship season, to be able to swim as fast as we can, dive as well as we can and to use this meet to qualify as many people as we can for the NCAA Championships."

It has already been an outstanding season for the Crimson Tide before the first event gets underway in Auburn, Ala. at the James E. Martin Aquatics Center this week. A majority of Alabama's roster has posted a career-best mark in at least one event during the regular season and several Tide athletes are ranked among the league's best which means they stand among the best in the national rankings as well.

"The SEC, top to bottom, is so good year-in and year-out and this season is no different," McIlquham said. "You can finish seventh at this meet and be in the hunt for a top-10 finish at the NCAA Championships."

Junior All-American Aaron Fleshner is the league's top-ranked diver off the one and three-meter boards. The defending SEC three-meter champion, he finished third at the NCAA Championships in the same event.

Junior All-American Mark Randall is back at the championships after redshirting last season while training for the Olympics. He is seeded second in both the 500 and 1650 freestyles and is ranked in the top 10 in both events nationally. Sophomore Denes Zubcsek is also ranked second in the SEC in his specialty, the 200 butterfly, and is among the nation's top-12 coming out of the regular season.

On the women's side of the slate, Alabama's lineup is highlighted by a strong diving contingent, led by freshman Carrie Dragland, who is ranked No. 1 in the SEC off the platform. Junior Elizabeth Hughes is also back in the hunt in the diving events. She was the top finisher for the Tide women last season, taking third off the platform.

Junior All-American Agustina de Giovanni comes into the league championships having turned in career-best times just two weeks ago during Alabama's last regular season meet, times that rank in the top 20 nationally in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes.

The SEC Championships get underway Wednesday at noon with the preliminaries of the 200 medley and the 800 freestyle relays as well as the men's one-meter diving and women's three-meter diving events. Finals for the relays and diving events get underway at 6 p.m.