Oct. 5, 2016
MALIBU, Calif. – The San Diego State swimming and diving team will be in Malibu this afternoon to kick off its 2016-17 dual meet campaign with a contest against Pepperdine set to commence at noon at the Waves' Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool.
The Aztecs got their season off on a positive note on September 15 when they defeated the University of San Diego, 33-24, in the annual pentathlon meet between the schools.
Today's meet will be the first action of the season for Pepperdine.
San Diego State returns 17 letterwinners from the team that finished third at the 2016 Mountain West Championships after compiling a record of 11-1 during the season. Included in that number are nine athletes who garnered all-conference recognition in their various events.
Among the top returnees are junior Sumer Harrison and sophomore Rachael Kelch. Harrison set the SDSU record in the 100 butterfly last season while Kelch turned in times in the 200 fly, 200 back and the 200 400 IM that rank among the top five fastest in school history.
Also back is junior Frida Berggren, a two-year standout who spent the last year in her home country of Sweden training for the Olympics. She owns top three SDSU times in both individual medley events as well as the 100 and 200 butterfly.
Among the 14 newcomers to this year's squad are 13 freshmen and one junior college transfer. Freshman McKenna Meyer and Kassidy Henson have looked good in the early going as they finished first and third respectively at the pentathlon at USD.
Following today's meet, San Diego State will travel to Fresno, Calif., to compete in the Chick-fil-A Invitational, a two-day competition that gets underway on Friday, Oct. 7, at 11:00 a.m. (PT).