Florida
The third ranked Florida swimming and diving men's delegation of eight swimmers and one diver are in second place at the Classic at SMU after tallying three individual wins on the first evening of competition. Day two will begin tomorrow evening at 7:30 p.m. (CT).
The Gators are up against top flight competition from top-ranked Michigan, sixth-ranked University of Southern California, eighth-ranked Louisville, Purdue and SMU. Seniors Brad deBorde (Longwood, Fla.) and Marcin Cieslak (Warsaw, Poland) and junior Dan Wallace (North Berwick, Scotland) each picked up a victory for the Orange and Blue.
In the 400 individual medley, Wallace set a pool record and lowered his NCAA 'A' cut and the nation's fourth fastest time with a swim of 3:42.11. deBorde picked up Florida's second individual win in as many events, touching the wall first in the 50 freestyle in 19.83. In the 100 butterfly, Cieslak came home first with a mark of 46.73.
Team Scores:
1 Michigan 175
2 Florida 154
3 Southern California 149
4 Louisville 136.50
5 Purdue 116. 50
6 Southern Methodist University 106
Sounds Bites:
"I'm pleased with how we did on the first day. We certainly had some close races that we would have liked to have been better at. There were a lot of pretty good swims all around tonight. Connor Signorin was a bit of a surprise in how fast he went in the 400 individual medley. Dan Wallace breaking the meet record was a good way to start the evening. We feel that tomorrow is the better of the two days for us. We had some goals that we wanted to achieve this weekend that are focused on the future. We were good about those tonight. There were a couple of spots where we gave up a few points because we wanted to give some people experience in other spots."- Head Coach Gregg Troy.
Relays:
* The Gators opened the meet with a second place swim in the 400 medley relay. The quartet of sophomore Corey Main (Auckland, New Zealand), junior Matt Elliott (Peoria, Ill.), Cieslak and deBorde delivered a finish of 3:09.75, which was half a second off of the team's season best set at the Ohio State Invitational.
* To conclude the first evening of competition, the Gators registered a third place performance in the 800 free relay (6:24.62). Wallace led off and produced a 200 free split and season low of 1:35.83. Redshirt senior Sebastien Rousseau (Cape Town, South Africa), senior Connor Signorin (East Windsor, N.J.) and Cieslak swam the second, third and fourth leg, respectively.
Gator Top Finishers:
* Rousseau stopped the clock at 1:36.02 to take fourth in the 200 free.
* Main ended his 100 back swim in third place with a time of 47.85.
* On the one-meter springboard, redshirt sophomore Zach Hernandez (Johns Creek, Ga.) finished with a score of 278.40.
* Junior Eduardo Solaeche-Gomez (Madrid, Spain) cranked out a third place swim in the 100 breaststroke (53.78). The junior's time was .11 off of his season low from the Ohio State Invitational.
Consolation Heats:
* In the second heat of the 400 IM, Signorin placed 2nd with a season best 3:44.95. Signorin's time qualified for the NCAA Championships last season.
* In the second heat of the 200 free, Rousseau registered a second place swim with a mark of 48.77.
* In the second heat of the 100 fly, deBorde touched in a time of 48.47.
* In the second heat of the 100 breast, Elliott set his season low with a mark of 53.94.
SMU
Junior diver Devin Burnett placed first (371.70) in the 1-meter dive as the SMU men's swimming and diving team competed on day one of the 30th annual Classic at SMU. The Mustangs currently stand in sixth place with 106 team points.
"Everyone really swam well today," head coach Eddie Sinnott said. "I felt like our guys were competing at a high level all night."
In the 200-yard freestyle, seniors Nicolai Hansen and Matt Roney finished with times of 1:37.61 and 1:39.41, respectively. Hansen also clocked a time of 55.66 in the 100-yard breaststroke. Freshman Ziga Cerkovnik recorded times of 20.46 and 48.97 in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly, respectively.
Sophomore Eastman Holloway paced SMU in the 400-yard individual medley as he clocked a time of 4:12.33. In the 100-yard backstroke, junior Matas Andriekus paced the Mustangs with a time of 49.65. He was followed by senior Ryan Koops who clocked a time of 50.27 in that event and he also finished with a time of 20.71 in the 50-yard freestyle.
"This is the first meet heading toward the championship season," Sinnott continued. "We are five weeks away from competing at The American Championships, so we have to continue to get faster and stronger as that day approaches."
SMU returns to action tomorrow for the second and final day of the Classic in the Perkins Natatorium. Competition begins at 7:30 p.m.
