Oct. 25, 2010
Free Live Video (beginning at 6pm CT)
The defending Big 12 Champion Texas A&M women's swimming and diving team will officially open its 2010-11 campaign with a 6 p.m. dual meet against Houston on Tuesday at the Student Recreation Natatorium.
The Aggies got an unofficial start to the season with a team win and 1-2-3 individual finish at the ASA Open Water Collegiate Champonships earlier this month at Lake Travis, but Tuesday's dual with the Cougars will be the first competition of the year for the full squad.
"It's great to get the season started," Aggie head swimming coach Steve Bultman said. "They have been gradually building up in their training and it's time to go. We need to race now because we have some big events coming up soon - Texas in a week and a half and the (Georgia Tech) Invite two week after that."
The 2010 Big 12 Champs also finished sixth at the NCAA Championships, and seven swimmers and two divers return for 2010-11 - swimmers Kendra Chernoff, Melanie Dodds, Lindsey King, Maureen McLaine, Rita Medrano, Tess Simpson and Maria Sommer and divers Jaele Patrick and Janie Potvin.
"We've got a number of girls that have been to NCAAs and scored at NCAAs," Bultman said. "We're looking at them to definitely be leaders, and they have been so far. We need them to be ready to race and lead the way for all our young swimmers."
The Aggies lost an 11-member senior class from last year's squad, including the program's first two NCAA individual champions in Julia Wilkinson and Alia Atkinson. The 2010-11 roster is dotted with new faces with 15 true freshmen and two transfers.
"We've got a bunch of new ones, and we feel like they are good and they're going to be a lot better," Bultman said. "It's always fun to see how they do in their first meet and as the season progresses. We're definitely excited to see how they will do when the gun goes off."
Admission to the Texas A&M-Houston dual meet is free, and the event will be live-streamed on AggieAthletics.com at: http://all-access.cbssports.com/player.html?code=tam&media=201149