Georgia Begins Home Slate with Florida Matchup

Friday, October 26

Athens, Ga.

11:00 A.M.

University of Georgia

Florida

October 25, 2018 | Swimming & Diving

Meet Notes

Live Stats

ATHENS, Ga. – Both men's and women's University of Georgia swimming and diving teams open the 2018-19 Gabrielsen Natatorium schedule against the Florida Gators on Friday at 11 a.m. ET.

Following a win at Arkansas in their first action of the season, the 11^th-ranked Lady Bulldogs return to Athens in search of a 12^th-straight victory against the ninth-ranked Gators. At the helm of the women's Florida team is former Georgia swimmer Jeff Poppell, who is in his second year as head coach in Gainesville. The Friday matchup marks the men's season opener. The ninth-ranked Bulldogs will face a 5-1 Gator team who boasts a pair of wins over top-five ranked opponents. The No. 3 Gainesville squad is led by first-year Florida head coach Anthony Nesty.

In 2017-18, the Georgia men finished the season in the top-10 at the NCAA Championships for the 10^th time in 11 years. They are led in and out of the pool by a group of seniors: James Guest, Aidan Burns, Colin Monaghan, Alex BeMiller and Blake Atmore. Prior to the season, Atmore became the 12^th member of the swimming and diving program in the last 15 years to receive the Joel Eaves Award, which honors the student-athlete with the highest GPA headed into the fall semester.

They will be joined by a notable collection of newcomers. The top breaststroke times from sophomore transfer from Arizona State Jack Dalmolin seamlessly slide into the Bulldogs' times from a year before, as do the performances from freshmen Andrew Abruzzo, Bradley Dunham and Caleb Harrington.

The first 100 fans at Friday's meet will receive a 'Beat Florida' t-shirt. Admission is free.

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NEWCOMERS
The Bulldog returners will be joined by a highly anticipated freshmen class. 12 women and seven men will produce a noticeable addition on the springboards and in all four strokes, with their best scores and races already inserting themselves into the top-performances of a season before. Four transfers enhanced the Bulldog depth as well this summer: sophomores Grant Norgan (UNLV), Colin Riley (Wisconsin), Jack Dalmolin (Arizona State) and junior Sofia Carnevale (UNLV).

BAUERLE NOMINATED FOR COACH OF YEAR
Tom Cousins Swimming and Diving Head Coach Jack Bauerle was nominated by USA Swimming for the Golden Goggles Coach of the Year Award. He enters his 40th year at the helm of the women's team, and 36th of the men's. With a 562-127-4 record, Bauerle ranks first among active NCAA coaches, first all-time in the SEC and third on the all-time list. To vote for Bauerle, head to this link: gado.gs/f3.

HARNISH NAMED SEC SWIMMER OF WEEK
Following wins in the 500-yard and 1,000-yard freestyle in Fayetteville, sophomore Courtney Harnish was named Co-SEC Swimmer of the Week. In her first outing of the season, her times ranked at the top of the conference and fifth in the country. They check in at seventh nationally nearly two weeks later. Harnish looks to build on an All-SEC, All-Freshman first-year campaign, capped with an SEC title and All-American honors.

WOMEN OPEN SEASON WITH WIN AT ARKANSAS
The Georgia women set the tone for the 2018-19 campaign with a 170.5-129.5 victory against the Razorbacks at Arkansas. In addition to Harnish's pair of freestyle victories, freshmen Callie Dickinson and Olivia Carter also provided two-first place finishes. Joining her first-year Lady Bulldogs was Dakota Luther, who picked up top spots in the 100-yard butterfly and the 400-yard freestyle relay, alongside Gabi Fa'amausili, Harnish and Veronica Burchill.

POPPELL HOMECOMING
Florida women's head coach Jeff Poppell returns to Athens where he spent his college career as a Bulldog in Gabrielsen Natatorium under Bauerle. He graduated in 1993 with a bachelor's degree in business administration. In the pool, he was a team captain who qualified for NCAAs twice. The Bulldog program honors a student-athlete with the Jeff Poppell Award for leadership each year. The last recipients were Basil Orr and Gunnar Bentz, who were presented with the award at this year's banquet in October.

In 2006, Poppell headed the Arkansas women, along with coaching on both the club and international level. During two seasons as an associate head coach at Florida, the Gators have collected nine individual national titles, 19 SEC titles and 67 All-American honors. He became head coach prior to the 2017-18 season.

THREE NAMED TO 2019 WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES
Junior Vernonica Burchill and freshmen Olivia Carter and Dakota Luther will represent the United States in Naples, Italy for the 2019 World University Games. Seventeen college programs make up the 52-person roster. The seven-day swimming event will take place July 4-10, 2019.

L.E.A.D. INDUCTEES: GREENE, GUEST AND STOUT
Three Bulldogs were inducted to the Georgia Way's Leadership Education and Development (L.E.A.D.) prgoram, which provides the highest-achieving student-athletes with the resources to compete for top conference and national awards and postgraduate scholarships. Gunnar Bentz was the most recent of the swimming and diving program to receive a NCAA postgraduate scholarship in 2018. Since 1986, the swimming and diving program has produced 39 recipients, garnering more than $200,000.