University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Swimming and Diving Set to Take on Hawaii
12/30/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
Dec. 30, 2011
Coming off a long break from competition, the Minnesota men's and women's swimming and diving teams return to action with a dual meet at Hawaii Saturday afternoon from the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex. The non-conference meet is set to get underway at 1:00 p.m.
"I'm excited to see our team race. It has been about a month and a half since we've competed together as a team," men's and women's head coach Kelly Kremer said "Hawaii is a strong team and will give us a good idea as to where we are heading into the second half of our season."
The Gophers' meet against the Rainbow Wahine is part of the team's annual winter training trip in the Aloha State, in which the Maroon and Gold will train for the second half and championship portion of the 2011-12 season.
The Minnesota women enter the competition with a flawless 5-0 record on the season and a 3-0 record in Big Ten action following a 205-95 victory at Iowa in early November. The Golden Gophers claimed first-place finishes in 13 of the 16 events, while also posting three NCAA provisional qualifying times and three pool records, before heading into their break.
"We are really looking forward to finishing out 2011 with a great competition versus the University of Hawaii," women's head coach Terry Nieszner said.
On the men's side, Minnesota is 1-1 on the year heading into Saturday's action. The Gophers defeated Wisconsin, 183-105, to open the season, before falling to the Hawkeyes on the road by just 21 points in their final dual before the break.
In their last event, the Rainbow Wahine finished fourth overall on the men's side and 11th overall on the women's side at the Arena Invitational hosted by UC San Diego. Nine teams competed on the men's side, with 17 women's teams in the mix.
Following Minnesota's winter training trip, both the men and the women will return to action on the road at Missouri Jan. 14, before hosting the Big Ten Triple Duals vs. Purdue and Wisconsin Jan. 27-28.