The 2010-11 Swimming and Diving season will begin on Oct. 22 with the Springfield Showdown at Hammons Student Center Pool.  This is the first of two meetings between the two teams this season.

Last season the two teams met three times. The first being at the Missouri Showdown, where Missouri State's men's team took first and the women's took second. The next meeting was at Hammon's Pool on Oct. 31, for Missouri State Homecoming. In this meet the Bears again prevailed, with the men and women sweeping the Panthers.  Drury got its revenge on Jan. 21, when they swept the Bears at Drury's Breech Pool. The Panthers later went on to win their second consecutive national title for both the men and women.

The Bears and Panthers have a long heated rivalry. The Drury swimming program was initially started by current Missouri State head coach Jack Steck, and he lead the Panthers to two national titles and brought the program to national prominence. At Drury, Steck had a 134-50 career record. The current all-time record between the schools is 9-11 in favor of Drury for the men and 2-6 in favor of Drury for the women.

The swimming is slated to begin at 5:00 p.m. On Oct. 23, the Bears will host an intrasquad/alumni scrimmage. This meet will feature swimmers from past Missouri State teams, as well as current Bear swimmers. Admission to both events is free and open to the public.