Badgers to Compete in SMU Classic
October 19, 2006 | Women's Swimming & Diving
The Wisconsin women's swimming and diving team heads to Dallas to compete in the 13th annual SMU Swimming & Diving Classic held Friday and Saturday at Perkins Natatorium.
Besides UW and Southern Methodist, Alabama, Florida State, LSU and Virginia Tech also will be competing.
'I think this weekend will be a preview of the eight women that will be on our NCAA team,' said head coach Eric Hansen. 'I'm looking forward to going against some really good competition down there.'
The Badgers are coming off a big weekend in Iowa City, Iowa, where they defeated Iowa 235.5 to 112.5 and UW-Milwaukee 252.0 to 94.0.
Sophomore Yi Ting Siow set a UI Fieldhouse pool and Wisconsin record when she won the 200-yard breaststroke with an NCAA 'A' time of 2:11.24. She was subsequently named Big Ten Swimmer of the Week.
Hansen feels that Siow, among others, need to perform well in order for the Badgers to be successful.
'We are coming off a really solid weekend against Iowa,' said Hansen. 'Yi Ting swam really well and our divers will need to perform well in order to keep things going.'
Freshman Gabby Maddalena had another excellent performance in only her second meet as a Badger, winning both the 1,000-yard freestyle (10:05.24) Friday and the 500-yard freestyle (4:58.18) on Saturday.
In diving, Jenny Hawkins won the women's 3-meter board (235.60) and placed second in the 1-meter board with a score of 217.40.
The Mustangs of SMU, who have won six of the past 12 Classics, have only competed in an intrasquad scrimmage thus far. The Crimson Tide, too, have only competed in an intrasquad scrimmage, as well as hosting an alumni meet last Saturday.
The Tigers of LSU (0-1) lost to No. 1 Auburn 176-115 on Oct. 6 but came away with five individual wins and won both diving events. The Hokies (1-0) defeated James Madison 166-120 last Friday, while the Seminoles (1-0) beat Clemson 179-116 on Oct. 7.
Live stats of the SMU Classic are available at http://smumustangs.cstv.com/sports/w-swim/spec-rel/06-w-swim-classic.html . On Saturday, in addition to live stats, SMU will be providing live streaming video via the same Web site.
