In exciting SEC swimming and diving action Saturday afternoon at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center, the Tiger men kept the crowd on their heels, winning 152-148, for the team's ninth win this season. Auburn's women completed the Tiger sweep, winning 178-120. AU men won 10 of 16 events and the women took nine of the 16.

"I would call this a classic SEC meet," head coach David Marsh commented. "I thought last week was exciting but I think today's meet may have trumped that being an SEC meet. I really want to give credit to Eric Shanteau who now two weeks in a row had to win and has delivered. Through the lineup we had some strong performances and we had some disappointments."

"We are turning around in some areas and with some people we still have a lot of improving to do," co-women's head coach Dorsey Tierney-Walker said. "The thing I was most pleased with today was the consistency in racing such as Adrienne who did the mile, 500 free and 400 IM, all three of which were very good. I attribute that to her conditioning and her willingness and excitement in doing any race we put her in. That is reflective of our team's mentality - whatever it takes type of attitude."

Two diving records were broken on 3-meter, five Tigers picked up two individual wins each and four women earned four automatic qualifiers. Adrienne Binder dominated the distance events - winning the 500 and 1650 free with her first automatic marks of the season. Swimming for just the second time in his collegiate career, Cesar Cielo captured the double victory in the 50 and 100 free's. Emily Kukors had a pair of wins in the 100 and 200 free's; the 200 with an automatic qualifier.

The first men's race, the 200 medley, set the tone for the meet, as the Tigers darted to the wall in a season best time of 1:28.63, anchored by Cielo who turned in a blistering 19.72 split, the best of any competitors, to pick up the win. In an exciting women's 200 medley relay, the Gators got the win with a blistering 1:41.41.

"We swam faster than we have all year even though we did not win," Tierney-Walker said. "We challenged Jeri on the 50 fly which she has never done before and I think she stepped up. Overall we were very solid. Emile Ewing had a good meet, Margo McCawley continues to improve wherever we put her. Tawnie is finally back and Kristen Hastrup had a great 500 free and 200 fly. Conditioning and confidence in racing were the difference."

Auburn's women went one, two in the 1650 free, both with automatic qualifying times. Swimming the event for the first time this season, Binder (15:56.41) finished ahead of teammate Hayley Peirsol (16:12.74). Newcomer Chelsea Haser improved her provisional qualifier by seven seconds, to place fifth (16:51.56). Florida Sophomore Max Jaben (Overland Park, Kan.) was one of the many young Gators to make an impact during Saturday�s meet. Jaben earned his first NCAA provisional time in the 1650 free after recording a career-best time of 15:09.93 to win the event. Jaben surpassed teammate Tobias Work (Falmouth, Mass) for the best time in the event this season by a full six seconds. Work placed second during Saturday�s race with an NCAA B time of 15:17.89.

Florida newcomer Lucas Salatta of Sao Paolo, Brazil did his part to keep the Gators on track with a pair of strong performances in the backstroke. He won the 100 back with a career-best time of 47.76. Later in the competition he earned his first automatic NCAA qualifying time by placing second in the 200 back with a time of 1:43.25. Lochte, who already earned an A qualifying time in the 200 back earlier this year, did it again and the won the race against Auburn by lowering his season-best time to 1:40.11.

�He is an extremely versatile swimmer,� Florida head coach Gregg Troy said. �He swims a lot like Ryan Lochte and competes in the many of the same events, so he should have an immediate impact on our team.�

Kukors picked up AU's third automatic qualifier with a winning time of 1:46.23 in the 200 free. Kukors already had the `A' cut that she earned at the U.S. Open in December, but today's time was an improvement. Newcomer Margo McCawley picked up the provisional qualifier and second place with a personal best time of 1:48.60. For the AU men, George Bovell took the 200 free title with a time of 1:38.43 and Alexei Puninski was third (1:39.12).

Auburn's women dominated the 100 back with newcomer Rachel Goh touching first with a provisional qualifier - 54.93. Teammate Jeri Moss was second with an improved `B' cut time of 55.42. Senior captain Doug Van Wie came in second with a bettered `B' cut of 48.31, followed by Scott Goodrich in third (49.83).

"The addition of Rachel has been wonderful for us," Tierney-Walker commented. "Not only from a performance standpoint but also because of her personality. She is a great fit our team and is a very hard worker and is very committing in what she is doing and I think that is a great influence on our team."

Auburn controlled the men and women's 50 freestyle as Cielo and Kolukanova picked up the win. Cielo sprinted to the win in an improved provisional time of 20.04 and was followed by teammate Scott Goodrich who had a season best time of 20.51. Kolukanova finished with a time of 23.11.

"Cesar and Jakob have been an incredible addition to our program and it really showed through today in the sprint freestyle's," noted Marsh.

Picking up their second individual win of the meet, Kukors took top honors in a time of 50.15 and Cielo touched with a bettered `B' cut of 44.20. Kukors was followed by Kolukanova (50.39) and Jakob Andjkaer was second for the men (44.47).

After winning the 100 back in her first collegiate meet, Goh had another impressive performance in the 200 back, finishing second with a provisional time of 1:59.63. Moss was the third place finisher with a time of 1:59.93. On the men's side, Van Wie was the top finisher for Auburn, coming in third with a bettered `B' cut of 1:45.66.

Shanteau picked up an individual win the 200 breast, turning in a time of 1:58.82. Duerk, Stupp and Anne Amardeilh all posted provisional marks in the 200 breast, finishing second, third, fourth, respectively.

With her second automatic qualifier of the day, Binder was just three seconds off a personal best performance in the 500 free - 4:43.81. The Tigers swept the event as Peirsol was second (4:49.17) followed by Hastrup (4:51.50).

"The women had an outstanding meet overall," Marsh said. "I was very pleased with the performances top to bottom. Adrienne certainly had, maybe, the best meet of her college career. She just continues to improve every week. Margo McCawley is one of the most improved freshman in the nation and we continue to watch Emily Kukors hard work pay off. The individual medley was the event that I enjoyed the most, in terms of, seeing all three swimmers who work so hard, come through is very satisfying."

Shanteau picked up his second win of the competition, this time in the 400 IM with a time of 3:47.87. With the fifth automatic qualifier of the afternoon, Duerk took on the individual win in a time of 4:15.37. Her teammates helped solidify the sweep as Binder was second (4:15.73) and Stupp third (4:16.72).

With the Orange and Blue trailing by a small margin after the first diving break, a group of underclassmen helped Florida pull ahead. Jaben ignited the comeback by winning the 500 free race with a career-best time of 4:25.33, which earned him his second NCAA provisional time of the meet. Senior Brian Hartley (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Work rounded out the Gator sweep by taking second and third place.

"I was very pleased with our entire individual medley and breaststroke group," Tierney-Walker said. "Lauren, Julie, Anne, Danielle and Adrienne - they have worked very well together all year and I think it shows in a race like the 400 IM where they pushed the pace a little."

With the competition on the line, Auburn overcame an 11-point deficit by winning the 400 FR with a thrilling comeback performance. Auburn�s George Bovell with a 43.38 split, caught up to Hartley during the final 100 yard leg of the race to give the Tigers the 11 points they needed for the win. Auburn�s team of Cielo, Bryan Lundquist, Van Wie and Scott Goodrich gave Auburn the 1-2 sweep.

�We knew we had to put it away before the last relay because they have so many great swimmers,� Florida head coach Gregg Troy said, �I can�t complain though. I thought the weekend was good overall, and it was a little disappointing to not bring this one home, but we had a chance to put them away and just ran out of juice.�

The women's 400 free relay closed out the team victory for Auburn as Margo McCawley, Kolukanova, Moss and Kukors touched in 3:20.48, an improved provisional time.