AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn swimming and diving team will welcome Kentucky and North Carolina State to the James E. Martin Aquatics Center this weekend for a double dual meet, and for the first time since the Tigers hosted the SEC Championships in February 2019, fans will be back in the stands.
"I'm excited for them to be at home in front of fans again," Auburn head coach Ryan Wochomurka said. "Any time you get a chance to race at home is exciting because you have fan engagement and it's a little bit more personal."
Spectators attending the meet will be required to wear face coverings while in the building and will be prohibited from accessing the competition area (pool deck). The COVID protocols will remain the same for the Georgia dual meet on Nov. 5.
From a competition standpoint, Auburn will host a North Carolina State program that has both the men's and women's programs ranked in the top five nationally and a Kentucky team who won the SEC Women's Championship last year. The Kentucky women are currently ranked No. 12 in the latest CSCAA Top 25.
"I'm glad that NC State and Kentucky are coming here, but it's really about us," Wochomurka said. "The expectations we have for our team this week is to improve upon where we were last week, functionally and from an execution standpoint. The only comparisons we can make right now are comparisons to ourselves – day to day and week to week."
In their 2021-22 season debut last week, the No. 23 Auburn women beat Florida State, 177-123, while the men's team lost a tight contest to the 15th-ranked Seminoles, 153-147.
Friday's action will begin at 2:30 p.m. CT with diving, and then the swimming portion kicks off at 4 p.m. with the 200 medley relay. All three teams will compete again Saturday, beginning at 9 a.m., but only Friday's events will count toward the scoring for the meet.
The meet will be streamed live Friday only on SEC Network+. Live results will also be available on auburntigers.com and on divemeets.com.
SPECTATOR INFORMATION
The first 200 fans to arrive Friday will receive a free Auburn Swimming and Diving t-shirt. You can pick it up at the marketing table on the second floor.
Fans will also have a chance to win a Bote Kula at the meet. Two spectators will be selected to compete in a paddleboard race the length of the pool. The first person to get to the end will go home with the Kula and a visor (retail value of $220).
Tigers to host Kentucky and NC State in double dual meet
