GAINESVILLE, Florida, January 19. FLORIDA’S Elizabeth Beisel popped a couple of very fast in-season times yesterday afternoon as her Florida Gators swept Florida Atlantic in Gainesville. Beisel recorded a 1:54.60 in the 200 fly and a 4:37.04 in the 500 free to highlight the Gators’ meet. Those times rank sixth (500 free) and ninth (200 fly) in Division I this season.
Florida Press Release
The Florida Swimming and Diving program swept Florida Atlantic in the first of three consecutive dual meet weekends for the Gators. With the SEC Championships 30 days away, the Gators will use the next three weekends to fine tune their races and fill out the conference championship roster.
The eight-ranked Florida women (4-2, 2-1 SEC) captured every event and won 175-112. The third-ranked men (6-0, 3-0 SEC) were competing as a split squad with nine members of the team competing at the Classic at SMU, and defeated FAU by a score of 166-123.
Senior Elizabeth Beisel (North Kingstown, R.I.) delivered a pair of top-10 times nationally in the 500 freestyle (4:37.04) and 200 butterfly (1:54.60). The two-time Olympic medalist missed breaking the NCAA ‘A’ standard by .03 in the 500 free and by .11 in the 200 fly. Beisel now ranks in the top-10 nationally in six events and in the top-five nationally in four events.
Series History: After today’s meet, Florida men lead Florida Atlantic 17-0 all-time and Florida women lead Florida Atlantic 18-0 all-time.
Men’s Dual Streak: The Gator men have gone 21 straight dual meets without dropping a dual, a record that dates back to Jan. 21, 2011
Sounds Bites:
“On the women’s side, I saw a lot of improvement. It looks like we are going in the right direction for the SEC Championships. Chris Jones was really good on the one-meter, but he lacked some confidence on the three-meter. We’ve got to step up and get a little bit better in the next couple of weeks and focus on being prepared for the conference championships.”- Diving Coach Donnie Craine
“I thought a lot of people did a great job of improving and showing growth in their secondary events. I felt that we split our races well today. Danielle Valley’s 1000 free and Pawel Werner’s 500 free were two races that I was impressed with today. A lot of people have been working on the back end of their races, and that showed today. One thing that stood out to me was that the team did a great job of supporting one another. Everyone was cognizant of what was going on. That is something that the coaching staff wanted to see an improvement from out last dual meet.”- Associate Head Coach Martyn Wilby.
Women’s Meet:
· Florida’s divers opened the meet with a 1-2-3 finish on one-meter. Sophomore Kahlia Warner (Queensland, Australia) was just off of her season best and produced a six-line total of 305.85. Sophomores Delaney Dye (Tallahassee, Fla.) and Emily Mosher (Cincinnati, Ohio) placed behind Warner, with Dye registering a season best score of 285.90.
· The Gators went 1-2 in the 200 medley relay. The ‘A’ team of sophomore Sinead Russell (Burlington, Ontario, Canada), senior Hilda Luthersdottir (Hafnarfjordur, Iceland), sophomore Natalie Hinds (Midland, Texas) and senior Ellese Zalewski (Melbourne, Australia) touched in a time of 1:42.14.
· Freshman Danielle Valley (Bradenton, Fla.) led a 1-2-3-4 finish for the Orange and Blue. Valley’s time of 9:54.87 was a second and a half off of her season low from the midseason invitational. Freshman Taylor Katz (Sarasota, Fla.) swam the event for the first time as a Gator and registered a mark of 10:00.59.
· Sophomore Ashlee Linn (Sarasota, Fla.) spearheaded a Gator sweep in the 200 free. Linn threw down her season low time of 1:50.05.
· Hinds, primarily a sprint-fly competitor, showed her versatility by leading a 1-2 finish in the 100 back. Hinds notched a time of 56.12.
· Sophomore Lindsey McKnight (Coral Springs, Fla.) led a UF 1-2-3 finish in the 100 breaststroke. McKnight stopped the clock at 1:05.10.
· Russell led a 1-2-3 finish for the Gators in the splash-and-dash. Russell’s time of 23.78 was good for the win.
· Dye put together her season best on three-meter, totaling a score of 308.60. Warner (297.30) and Mosher (284.55) took second and third. Sophomore Julia Hackett (Sunrise, Fla.) was fourth.
· Zalewski cruised to the 100 free win after the diving break in a time of 51.90.
· Hinds doubled up in the backstroke events, winning the 200 back in a time of 2:03.02. Today’s backstroke wins were the first wins of the season for the sophomore in the backstroke.
· Junior Rebecca Rainer (Richmond, Va.) earned her first individual win of the season, winning the 200 breast in a time of 2:22.17.
· Katz won the 100 fly (56.60) for the first time in her career.
· McKnight earned her second win of the day, cranking out a season best 200 individual medley mark of 2:04.57.
· The Gators ended the meet with a win in the 400 free relay. The foursome of Linn, Zalewski, Russell and Luthersdottir teamed to finish in a time of 3:26.46. On the ‘B’ relay, Beisel led the field with a 49.98 in the first 100 yards.
Men’s Meet: The Gator men won 14 of 16 events, including both relays.
· Senior Chris Jones (Palm City, Fla.) is beginning to return to form after missing most of the fall recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. The senior qualified for the NCAA Zone Championships with a season best one-meter total of 325.88.
· The Gator swimmers set the tone for the meet with a 1-2 finish in the 200 medley relay. The ‘A’ relay of junior Christian-Paul Homer (Trinidad and Tobago), junior Ricky Munch (Clifton, Va.), sophomore Luke Torres (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and junior Matt Curby (Oviedo, Fla.) teamed up to win in a time of 1:31.67.
· Junior Arthur Frayler (Fort Washington, Pa.) led a Gator 1-2-3-4 finish in the 1000 free. Frayler was five seconds off of the 1000 freestyle mark derived from the nation’s third fastest mile and finished in a time of 9:09.47.
· Sophomore Pawel Werner (Wroclaw, Poland) has begun to make strides after missing most of the fall due to offseason injury. The Polish native secured the 200 free win in a time of 1:38.33.
· Junior Matt Thompson (Seminole, Fla.) picked up his first dual win of the year, leading a Gator 1-2-3 finish in the 100 back. Thompson touched in a time of 51.24.
· Munch notched his first dual win of the year with a first place win in the 100 breast (57.90).
· Sophomore Austin Manganiello (Miami, Fla.) also secured his first dual win of the year, taking the 200 fly in front of a trio of Gators in a time of 1:49.59. Managniello’s mark was .10 off of his season low.
· Homer earned the win in the 50 free (21.09).
· Freshman Jack Blyzinskyj (Weston, Mass.) threw down a season best of 1:48.68 in the 200 back as the Gators took the first four spots in the race.
· Junior Carlos Omana (Miami, Fla.), last week’s SEC Male Swimmer of the Week, won the 200 breast in front of a pair of UF swimmers in a season best time of 2:06.07.
· Werner cranked out a notable swim in the 500 free, beating teammate Frayler by .22 seconds and finishing with a time of 4:27.49.
· Homer earned his second win of the day with a mark of 48.77 in the 100 fly.
· Curby scored his first dual win of the season with a 1:51.96 in the 200 IM.
· The Gator ‘A’ relay of three-time SEC Freshman of the Week Mitch D’Arrigo (Rome, Italy), Homer, Werner and freshman Daniel Spas (Coral Springs, Fla.) wrapped up the meet with a win in the 400 free relay (3:03.73).
Florida Atlantic Press Release
Florida Atlantic University’s men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams continued their weekend road trip in Gainesville to face the University of Florida Gators on Saturday, Jan. 18. The day was highlighted by first-place finishes in four events against UF’s third-ranked men’s team and eighth-ranked women’s team.
Matthieu Burtez completed the meet as the Owls’ top finisher recording two wins. Burtez hit the pad in 45.98 to claim victory in the 100 yard freestyle. Torbjorn Persson finished third for the event with a final time of 47.73. Burtez’s second win was in the 400 yard freestyle relay with teammates Rich Andrews, John Nolte and Persson. The team finished in 3:08.76. Also for the men’s team, Greg Cox finished first in the three meter dive with a score of 314.25. Cox finished second in the one meter dive with a score of 297.52 followed by Tyler Aycock who recorded a score of 274.50 for third-place.
Overall, FAU’s men’s team recorded 18 top-three finishes. In the 200 yard breastroke, Kameron Sipowski finished third with a final time of 59.72. Rich Andrews was FAU’s top finisher in the 500 yard freestyle clocking in at 4:48.45 for second-place. Andrews was followed by Tom O’Connor in third with a final time of 5:09.93. The Owls took second and third-place finishes in the 200 yard backstroke as well, with Alen Dervisevic in second (2:00.55) and Tucker Lewis (2:01.69) in third. The men’s team fell to UF with a final score of 123. The Gators recorded a final score of 166 on the day.
The women’s team collected a win in the 400 yard freestyle relay. The team consisted of Katie Dodge, Agi Bucz, Abbey King and Anett Kovacs who finished the event in 3:34.60. In the 200 yard butterfly, Kovacs finished second in 2:02.69 and Breanna Saukas followed clocking in at 2:13.86 for third. Kovacs also finished the 500 yard free in second-place with a final time of 5:02.60. FAU’s Abbey King followed in third-place recording a time of 5:08.68. In the 100 yard butterfly Bucz hit the pad second in 57.12 followed by Frida Nilsson in third. Iwona Lefanowicz tallied two second-place finishes in the 100 yard backstroke (57.92) and the 200 yard IM (2:12.35). The women’s team also fell to UF with a final score of 175-112.
FAU will host its final two meets of the regular season with FIU set to compete on Friday, Jan. 31 at 2 p.m. and a dual meet with Indian River and FGCU on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 11 a.m.