Jan. 27, 2012

ATHENS, Ga. --- The Georgia swimming and diving teams will conclude the dual-meet portion of their season on Saturday when they visit Alabama at 2 p.m.

The Lady Bulldogs are 7-1 overall and 4-0 in the SEC, while the Bulldogs are 5-2-1 overall and 2-1-1 in the league. The Lady Bulldogs have won 26 straight meets against SEC foes, 20 of their last 21 meets overall and 53 of their last 55 meets overall.

Saturday's meet will be Georgia's last competition before the Southeastern Conference Championships Feb. 15-18 at Tennessee. The Alabama meet will be another chance for swimmers and divers to impress the coaches and solidify a spot on the championships roster.

"Every meet is purposeful, and this is one is no different," Georgia coach Jack Bauerle said. "First of all, every time you get to compete in a meet, it's a dress rehearsal. We're getting down to it and we've got some decisions to make that will best benefit the aspirations we have. We want our people to be as good as they can be, but don't be less than what you were a week ago. They need to do everything right and get themselves ready to swim."

The Lady Bulldogs slipped from No. 1 to No. 5 in the January version of the College Swimming Coaches Association of America rankings. Georgia dropped a 155-145 decision at Texas earlier this month, but bounced back with wins over South Carolina and Tennessee. The Lady Bulldogs trail No. 1 Cal, No. 2 Florida, No. 3 Auburn and No. 4 Texas in the rankings. On the men's side, the Bulldogs are No. 10. Neither Alabama squad is ranked.

“We just want to swim well,” Bauerle said. “We had a really good weekend against South Carolina and Tennessee, and this is our last meet before conference so we want to make it a good one. Any time you go on the road, you want to swim well. It’s a little harder because you’re taking a trip, so you go there as late as you can, try to get a win and get the heck back to Athens. We're expecting a good challenge, especially from the Alabama men. With our temperament, I think we'll swim well no matter what."

The Lady Bulldogs boast SEC leaders in Melanie Margalis (200 breaststroke, 200 and 400 individual medley), Wendy Trott (1,000 and 1,650 freestyle), Amber McDermott (500 freestyle), Megan Romano (200 freestyle), Kristen Shickora (100 backstroke) and Michelle McKeehan (100 breaststroke). Trott and McDermott are also the national leaders in their events. For the men, Martin Grodzki is the SEC and national leader in the 1,650 freestyle, while he also ranks No. 1 in the league in the 500 freestyle. Jameson Hill leads the SEC in the 200 freestyle.