Alabama Swimming and Diving to Compete in Intrasquad Meet
10/10/2003 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
The Alabama Swimming and Diving will give Crimson Tide fans a sneak peek at the 2003-04 squad Friday (October 10) at 4 p.m. at the Don Gambril Olympic Pool when it lines up for an intrasquad meet.
Not only will it be the first official outing for this year's team, it will be the first outing for new head coach Eric McIlquham who was hired to lead the Tide just days before the start of school this August. Friday's intrasquad will give McIlquham is first look at his young squad in a competitive situation.
"We really hit the ground running in August and have not stopped to this point," McIlquham said. "I'm excited about seeing where we are tomorrow. Practice is one thing, and that's been going well, but Friday will tell us a lot about this team."
McIlquham and assistant head coach Sonya Porter were assistant coaches for the Tide together back in the mid-80s and returned together when former head coach Don Wagner left to pursue other opportunities. The two then added Craig Nigsor and Glenn Neufield to the staff. Diving coach Pat Greenwell, a 15-year veteran with the Tide, remained on staff.
And while a majority of the staff is new, the Tide men have a mixture of old and new this season. There are six seniors, five juniors, eight sophomores and three freshmen on the roster, giving the Tide a nice balance of youth and experience. While the Tide will miss two-time defending NCAA 200 butterfly champion Stefan Gherghel, who finished his elegibility last season, they do return All-Americans Stewart Smith, Darren Erasmus, Franck Southon and James Willcox from last year's 12th place NCAA Squad, and have a host of others looking to step up.
On the women's side of the slate, Alabama is much more youth oriented, with 12 rookies and six sophomores combining with three seniors and one junior. The Tide will be without the services of breaststroke standout Anne Poleska, who is redshirting this season to train for the 2004 Summer Olympics. Leading Alabama's youngsters will be senior All-American diver Lane Bassham and All-Americans Kathryn Hallquist and Alison Lafevers along with butterfly standout Victoria Genova.
In addition to Friday's intrasquad, Alabama will be hosting a mini-reunion Saturday with the Alabama Alumni Meet, which gets underway at 11 a.m. in the Aquatic Center.
