Four years in the making, and it all ends Saturday.
"I can't believe it's this weekend," senior diver Sarah Ellerby said about Senior Day.
It's also a thought shared by many of the seniors on the UF men's and women's swim teams.
The UF men's (9-3, 3-2 Southeastern Conference) and women's (10-1, 4-1 SEC) swimming and diving teams will finish off their dual-meet season against FAU on Saturday. The seniors will be swimming at UF for the last time.
"It comes by really fast," said Ellerby, the lone senior diver on either team. "I just want to be remembered for my personality and as a competitor."
By now, UF diving coach Donnie Craine is used to seeing Ellerby around the pool.
"She's been around for four years, dealing with me," Craine said. "It's great for her that she's been able to put up with me for that long."
Craine, who has seen a lot of Senior Days, said it will be an emotional time for Ellerby and the rest of the seniors.
Ellerby said she plans to take a year off to explore her options before going to graduate school. She plans to visit the team and maintain contact with her best friends on the team.
Ellerby may be the only senior on the diving team, but there are 16 seniors between the men's and women's swim teams, eight apiece.
"They came in relatively unheralded, and they've all turned into an outstanding group," said UF swimming coach Gregg Troy.
The men's team has finished in the top five each year thus far in the seniors' tenure and will look to make it a fourth straight year at the NCAA Championships in March.
Seniors on the women's team have two top-10 finishes and a top-five finish on their résumés.
