With the SEC Swimming and Diving Championship growing ever nearer, Alabama coach Dennis Pursley has turned his attention firmly toward championships, with the Alabama swim team set to begin its final tuneups when they host Emory University this Saturday.

“We’re starting to round the corner to the home stretch of the season,” Pursley said. “We’re trying to continue to close the gap with areas of race skills – our turns, our starts, that kind of thing.”

Saturday’s meet will offer a rare opportunity for many of Alabama’s individual athletes to compete in events they wouldn’t normally – a product of some swimmers’ early qualifications to the conference championship meet.

“This is kind of a unique opportunity for us,” Pursley said. “We’ve got a number of swimmers that, based on their performances up to this point, have secured a spot on the SEC Championship roster. For those swimmers, they will, in most cases, not be swimming their primary events. … They will be swimming other events that they’ll be competing in at the SEC Championships.”

The SEC Championships, which will be hosted by the University of Georgia from Feb. 18-22, will be a distinct challenge for the Crimson Tide. With the meet spread out over several days, swimmers are asked to compete in more events than a normal dual meet, and many will be competing in races they are less experienced in.

The meet against Emory will offer a chance to prepare for some of those complications, Pursley said. Some swimmers, however, will be using their final home meet of the season to try to qualify for the conference championships.

“It will serve a different purpose for the swimmers on the bubble, still trying to earn a spot on the championship roster,” Pursley said. “They will again swim their best events and try to post a time that will secure a spot on the roster for them. It will serve a different purpose for all the people on the team.”

Heading into the last month of the season, Pursley said he wants to use the meet against Emory, and the following away meet against Georgia, to sustain some momentum heading to the SEC Championships.

“As far as the team is concerned, we want to stay on track with where we were in our last competition against Kentucky and Arkansas, as far as team spirit and the energy they bring to the deck,” Pursley said. “We hope to see that equalled or even improved upon this weekend.”

Beyond simple competitive importance, the Saturday meet will hold special significance for a group of Alabama swimmers. The final home meet of the season is traditionally designated as Senior Day, and Pursley said he will be looking to send the Crimson Tide’s seniors off with special memories.

“They’ll fall into one of the two categories, so we won’t be doing anything different for them in that sense,” Pursley said. “I did try to get them all on a relay – their last opportunity to swim a relay in their home pool, in front of their home crowd, including some that don’t normally get to swim a relay. … I will talk to the seniors before the competition. I haven’t thought yet about what will be said, but it is a special day, and in some ways a little emotional. We just want to make sure it’s a positive one.”