The fifth-ranked Auburn swimming and diving teams travel to Tuscaloosa this week with their sights set on defending their SEC crowns.

Hosted by the University of Alabama, the SEC Championships open today with women’s 1-meter diving, men’s 3-meter diving, the 200 medley relay and 800 free relay.

All events will take place at the Alabama Aquatics Center.

“The SEC Championships is a highly-competitive meet and Auburn has a lot of tradition of success there and I think this team is putting itself in position to do the best it possibly can to maintain that tradition of excellence,” said head coach Richard Quick.

The Tiger men’s squad has won 11 consecutive SEC championships, while the women’s team has won four of the past five.

Extending those runs will be no easy task as the SEC has proven itself this season as one of the best swimming and diving conference in the country.

In the most recent CSCAA top-25 poll, Auburn is the highest ranked team in the conference at No. 5. Florida and Tennessee follow at No. 7 and No. 8, respectively, with Georgia coming in at No. 10. LSU wraps up the SEC contingent in the poll with a No. 17 ranking.

In the women’s poll, Georgia leads the way with a No. 1 ranking, followed by Florida at No. 3 and Auburn at No. 5. Tennessee follows at No. 7, giving the SEC four teams ranked in the top 10 in the nation.

Also in the women’s rankings is LSU at No. 17, while Arkansas and Kentucky are receiving votes.

“Some of the very top teams in the United States, Georgia, Florida and Tennessee, among others, are going to be at the meet,” said Quick. “The Southeastern Conference is the strongest swimming conference in the country and it will be a very competitive atmosphere at the highest level.”

Alabama is no stranger to hosting the SEC Championships as the men’s meet has been held in Tuscaloosa eight times (1964, 1971, 1976, 1982, 1987, 1990 and 1992). Auburn won the title last time Alabama hosted the event, scoring 814 points to beat its closest competitor, Tennessee, by 181.5 points.

This will be the sixth time Alabama has hosted the women’s meet after previously hosting in 1981, 1983, 1987, 1990, 1992, and 2001.

Auburn’s best finish came in 1992 and 2001 as the Tigers finished runner-up both years.

Action in the four-day meet begins at 12:30 p.m. today with preliminaries in women’s 1-meter diving and men’s 3-meter diving. The first finals session begins at 5 p.m.

Preliminaries begin at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday with finals beginning at 6 p.m. each night.

Meet information and live timing can be found at the SEC Championships home page at http://www.RollTide.com.

A SEC Championships highlight show is also slated to air on FoxSports South (Channel 26 in Lee County) on March 1 at noon.

Former Auburn swimmer and Olympic gold medalist Rowdy Gaines will team up with former Florida swimmer Bernie Guenther to provide commentary and analysis.