Tampa Swimming Set to Open Season on Friday

TAMPA, Fla. - Coming off a historic performance at the 2012 NCAA Championships, the University of Tampa men's and women's swimming teams are set to open the 2012-13 season against Sunshine State Conference rival Florida Southern on Friday.

Both Spartan teams advanced to the 2012 NCAA Championships, with the women finishing fourth and the men 13th.

The fourth-place finish for the Spartan women marks the best finish since 1988, when head coach Ed Brennan's UT squad was the national runner-up. Tampa also earned a trophy, which was awarded to the top-four teams.

Tampa returns a total of nine All-Americans from its women's team, including Heather Glenday, Alex Hipolito, Catherine Parker, Kristine Kassl, Alexandria Greenhill, Lisa Bero, Kylie Piche, Erin Plachy and Hilary Stetekluh. Glenday was named the MVP of the 2012 SSC Championships while Plachy was the SSC Freshman of the Year in 2011-12.

On the men's side, David Humphrey, Felipe Manzo, Derek Krell and Norbert Kovacs were each All-Americans last season.

The meet is scheduled for 4 p.m., at the UT Aquatics Center. Admission is free. UT will offer a video webcast through TampaSpartans.tv.

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