Arkansas Swimming and Diving Meet Notes- Week 1

Up nextThe University of Arkansas swimming and diving team kicks off the season at a double dual meet against Kentucky and the University of the Cumberlands on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Lexington, Ky.

Last time outThe Razorbacks held their annual Red-White meet Oct. 3 in preparation for this week’s first regular season meet. In the intrasquad competition, the white team edged out the red team 123-117. Sophomore Alison Templin and senior Yi-Ting Siow each won two events for the Red team, but it was not enough to overcome the strength of the White squad’s overall performance.In Poppell’s Words… (On the Red-White meet)"The girls did a fantastic job today in our Red and White event. We wanted to use it as a measurement of where we are right now, two weeks outside of our first competition. We also used it as an aid to help us make some difficult decisions about who will be traveling to our first away competition and what events they will be swimming.

"Today was a meet environment in terms of the order of events, but it was a training situation more than anything. We saw some fantastic things, and we also saw some things we need to improve on. But we expected that, and it is one of the reasons we swim this meet."

2009-10 PreviewArkansas returns three All-Americans from last season: Jamie Marks, Leah Pierce and Yi-Ting Siow. Yi-Ting Sow became the first Razorback swimmer since Nicola Atkinson in 1992 to win an SEC title with her first place finish in the 200 breast. 11 newcomers will round out the squad.

2008-09 RecapArkansas finishes the 2008-09 season with a 10-1 dual meet record, the first ever 10 win season in the program’s history. The team’s only loss came in the first dual meet of the season to then-No. 10 Tennessee. Only the 1990-91 and 1991-92 squads came close to 10 wins, each team finishing its respective season with nine wins. The College Swimming Coaches of American ranked Arkansas No. 19 at the end of the 2008-09 season. The Hogs also finished fifth at the SEC championships which is the highest finish in school history. The team also set 11 Razorback records during its historic season.

Team Information2008-09 Dual Record10-12009 SEC Finish5th, 299 pts2009 NCAA Finish27thLetterwinners Returning/Lost21/6All-Americans Returning/Lost3/3 Jamie Marks, Leah Pierce, Yi-Ting Siow