AUSTIN, Texas --- The Texas A&M women's swimming and diving team will battle Texas in the State Farm Lone Star Showdown at 6 p.m. on Friday at the Jamail-Texas Swimming Center.
The 32nd installment of the Aggie-Longhorn dual meet rivalry features a pair of undefeated teams that are both coming off top 10 finishes at last year's NCAA Championships, which were also contested on the University of Texas campus. The Aggies logged their fifth-straight top 10 NCAA finish with a 10th place performance, while the 2011 Big 12 Champion Longhorns took sixth in their home pool.
"It should be a lot of fun and we're looking forward to the challenge," Aggie head coach Steve Bultman said. "It's a great rivalry and I know both teams will be ready to compete. I think it will be a great college swimming and diving meet.
"There's no doubt that you get a home pool advantage when you've got a bunch of your fans in the stands. It's a tough place to compete, but it's also a place we had a lot of success last year at Big 12s and NCAAs. I would think that the team expects to compete well there based on what've they've done there in the past."
The Longhorns hold a commanding lead in the all-time series, but the two schools have been battling toe-to-toe in the recent past. Since the start of the Aggies' top 10 national finish streak, the Aggies are 2-3 in dual meets against the Longhorns and have won three of the last five Big 12 Championships.
"With Texas being as good as they have been has helped us get better as a program," Bultman said. "The way that these two programs have battled the last five or six years has helped both teams get better."
The Aggies go into Friday's dual coming off a season-opening 180-120 victory over Big 12 foe Missouri last Saturday in Mansfield, Texas, while the Longhorns swept a double dual with victories over Indiana and Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Aggies won 10 of 16 events against the Tigers, with sophomores Breeja Larson and Cammile Adams winning a pair of races. The Aggies swept both dives and closed the meet with a win in the 400-yard free relay.
"We definitely identified some spots where we need to get better," Bultman said. "But we also had some outstanding swims that were very encouraging. All in all, it was a good start for us and we got a lot of things accomplished."
The 2011 State Farm Lone Star Showdown between the Aggies and Longhorns will be televised by the Longhorn Network with Sam Gore (play-by-play) and three-time U.S. Olympian Aaron Piersol (commentary) describing the action.
The 32nd installment of the Aggie-Longhorn dual meet rivalry features a pair of undefeated teams that are both coming off top 10 finishes at last year's NCAA Championships, which were also contested on the University of Texas campus. The Aggies logged their fifth-straight top 10 NCAA finish with a 10th place performance, while the 2011 Big 12 Champion Longhorns took sixth in their home pool.
"It should be a lot of fun and we're looking forward to the challenge," Aggie head coach Steve Bultman said. "It's a great rivalry and I know both teams will be ready to compete. I think it will be a great college swimming and diving meet.
"There's no doubt that you get a home pool advantage when you've got a bunch of your fans in the stands. It's a tough place to compete, but it's also a place we had a lot of success last year at Big 12s and NCAAs. I would think that the team expects to compete well there based on what've they've done there in the past."
The Longhorns hold a commanding lead in the all-time series, but the two schools have been battling toe-to-toe in the recent past. Since the start of the Aggies' top 10 national finish streak, the Aggies are 2-3 in dual meets against the Longhorns and have won three of the last five Big 12 Championships.
"With Texas being as good as they have been has helped us get better as a program," Bultman said. "The way that these two programs have battled the last five or six years has helped both teams get better."
The Aggies go into Friday's dual coming off a season-opening 180-120 victory over Big 12 foe Missouri last Saturday in Mansfield, Texas, while the Longhorns swept a double dual with victories over Indiana and Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Aggies won 10 of 16 events against the Tigers, with sophomores Breeja Larson and Cammile Adams winning a pair of races. The Aggies swept both dives and closed the meet with a win in the 400-yard free relay.
"We definitely identified some spots where we need to get better," Bultman said. "But we also had some outstanding swims that were very encouraging. All in all, it was a good start for us and we got a lot of things accomplished."
The 2011 State Farm Lone Star Showdown between the Aggies and Longhorns will be televised by the Longhorn Network with Sam Gore (play-by-play) and three-time U.S. Olympian Aaron Piersol (commentary) describing the action.