Schooling vs. Dressel | October Showdown In The Swamp

The Florida Gators host the Indiana Hoosiers and Texas Longhorns in a two-day swim meet in Gainesville featuring Caeleb Dressel and Joseph Schooling.

Oct 20, 2017 by Maclin Simpson

Schooling vs. Dressel | October Showdown In The Swamp

In the most anticipated meet of the weekend, Florida welcomes powerhouse squads Texas and Indiana for a two-day tri-meet in The Swamp.

Here are the three keys to watch for in Gainesville, FL.

Florida vs. Texas vs. Indiana

Oct. 20-21

Gainesville, FL

Stephen C. O'Connell Center Natatorium

MEET INFORMATION

1.) Joseph Schooling vs. Caeleb Dressel

This will be the first time the two have raced since Dressel took gold in the 100m butterfly at Worlds in Budapest, Hungary, preventing Schooling from defending his Olympic gold medal. It will also be the first time they have raced in the short course yards pool since March, when Dressel took Schooling's NCAA record and title in the 100 fly. Both of those were head-to-head races.

Aside from last month's All-Florida Invite, we haven't seen much from Dressel. Schooling, however, has been on a mission this fall and ON FIRE -- dropping these blazing times at Texas' intrasquad meet.

We get it: It's October. It's not March. But... These are two ultra-competitive guys who clearly bring out the best in one another.

Schooling Went 50.7 Day After Dressel's 50.8

2.) The Return of Lilly King

The Indiana Hoosiers -- led by Olympians Lilly King and Blake Pieroni -- make their season debut this weekend. Heck of a way, too -- going against powerhouses Texas and Florida.

King is coming off a pair of world records this summer in the 50m and 100m breaststroke — which, in classic King fashion, she basically predicted.

She is already the NCAA- and American-record holder in the SCY 50 and 100 breaststrokes — plus the two-time defending NCAA champion in both. The questions for her this season will be how low can she go?

This weekend, however? Anything sub-1:00 and sub-2:10 will be adequate for her at this point in the season.

3.) First Taste for the Freshmen

Like we said earlier, we get it: It's only October. However, this is a very prominent meet for all three of these teams, as it will be the first opportunity of legitimate racing action for the freshmen.

And there are some stud first-year swimmers, especially for the Longhorns -- on both sides. For the 'Horns men -- backstroker Austin Katz, flier Sam Pomajevich, and distance ace JohnThomas Larson lead the way. For the women -- versatile Evie Pfeifer and flier/backstroker Victoria Edwards will look to make an impact.

Other freshman studs to look out for are Taylor Ault (Florida), Camryn Forbes (Indiana), Clark Beach (Florida), Michael Taylor (Florida), and Spencer Lehman (Indiana).