The Kentucky swimming and diving teams will begin their 2009-10 campaigns on the road at South Carolina in the first of nine dual meets for the squads this season.

UK is set to take on the Gamecocks at 1:00 p.m. ET in Columbia Friday afternoon. It marks the first competition of the season for both squads in UK coach Gary Conelly’s 19th season.

Expectations are plentiful for the 2009-10 edition of the UK men’s swimming and diving team. The Wildcats return 20 letterwinners and six All-Americans from a team that placed 17th at the NCAA Championships a season ago.

“The expectations for the men’s team are extremely high simply based on the number of quality returners we have coming back,” said Conelly. “The core nucleus returns from a year ago and they were a top-20 team last season.”

Seniors Elvis Burrows, Alex Forbes, Kyle Greene, Warren Grobbelaar and Eric McGinnis have all earned All-America status throughout their careers in the Blue and White. As a unit they are unquestionably among the top tier of athletes for the Wildcats, but their drive and leadership in their final seasons could provide UK with the spark to achieve a top-10 national finish.

On the women’s side, after five school records falling, including three individual times a year ago, the Kentucky women’s swimming and diving team is looking to new heights in 2009-10. The women return a number of key components from a season ago–including record holders Casey Miller, Chatham Penrod and Megan Pulskamp.

“This team possesses the talent to have a really good season if everybody continues to make strides and continues to improve,” said Conelly. “We’ve changed the way we train a bit to help maintain the team’s conditioning for the long haul, which I think will pay dividends for this group.”

Despite a small squad in numbers, Conelly believes this team has the depth and talent to make waves both at the conference meet and on the national scene.

Sourced via ukathletics.com

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