The Georgia swimming and diving teams swept Florida on Friday at Gabrielsen Natatorium.
The No. 4 Bulldogs (3-1, 2-0 SEC) posted a 174.5-122.5 victory over No. 5 Florida while the second-ranked Lady Bulldogs (5-0, 3-0) defeated the third-ranked Lady Gators 176-119. The Lady Bulldogs also extended their UGA all-sports record with their 92nd straight win at Gabrielsen Natatorium.
"I was really proud of the team efforts demonstrated by both the women and the men," said Harvey Humphries, Georgia's Acting Head Coach. "We have trained really well the last two weeks and the swimmers and divers got mentally prepared for this meet over the last couple of days. We got off to a great start, and that really set the tone. We have the utmost respect for Florida's program. I really proud of the way our kids raced today."
Chase Kalisz, Ty Stewart and Ian Forlini each won twice for the Bulldogs. Kalisz swept the 200 butterfly in 1:45.64 and the 200 individual medley in 1:47.13. Stewart took both the 100 butterfly (47.91) and the 200 backstroke (1:45.17). Forlini posted the top scores for both the 1-and 3-meter springboards at 349.05 and 374.10, respectively.
Other winners for the Bulldogs were Nicolas Fink in the 200 breaststroke (1:56.74), Taylor Dale in the 100 backstroke (47.43), Matias Koski in the 200 freestyle (1:36.78), and Kevin Litherland in the 1,000 freestyle (9:05.26).
Dale, Fink, Pace Clark and Michael Trice won the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:27.08. Trice, Koski, Alec Cohen and Fink took the 400 freestyle relay in 2:58.42.
Amber McDermott, Kylie Stewart and Annie Zhu were double winners for the Lady Bulldogs. McDermott won the 500 freestyle in 4:46.79 and the 1,000 freestyle in 9:43.00. Stewart posted the top times in the 100 backstroke (53.42) and the 200 backstroke (1:55.54). Zhu touched first in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke in 1:02.98 and 2:15.16, respectively.
The Lady Bulldogs also got wins from Hali Flickinger in the 200 butterfly (1:57.20), Olivia Ball on the 3-meter springboard (334.95) and Lauren Harrington in the 100 butterfly (54.13).
Olivia Smoliga, Emily Cameron, Stewart and Chantal Van Landeghem won the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:40.90. Van Landeghem, Maddie Locus, Jordan Mattern and Stewart posted the top time in the 400 freestyle relay (3:26.41).
Georgia's teams will be back in action next Friday in Atlanta against Georgia Tech and Savannah College of Art and Design.
The University of Florida No. 5-ranked men’s and No. 3 women’s swimming & diving teams (M: 2-1, 2-1 SEC; W, 3-1, 3-1 SEC) fell at No. 4/2 Georgia (M: 3-1, 2-0 SEC; W, 5-0, 3-0 SEC) by scores of 174.5-122.5 and 176-119, respectively, on Friday afternoon in the Georgia’s Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens, Ga. UF registered 11 NCAA ‘B” standard times throughout the dual.
Florida’s men are now 61-16-3 all-time against UGA, and the Gator women dropped to below .500 against Bulldogs at, 14-15.
Freshman Caeleb Dressel and junior Natalie Hinds paced both squads, as they each swept the sprint events on each the men’s and women’s side. Dressel placed first in the 50-yard freestyle in a time of 20.06 seconds and 100-yard free in 44.35 seconds. Meanwhile, Hinds earned her victories in marks of 22.55 and 49.37 seconds.
In addition, Hinds finished second in the 100-yard butterfly in a time of 54.97 seconds.
Florida is back in action next week, as the Gators compete in their penultimate home meet of the season on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 11 a.m. when Minnesota comes to Gainesville. Both men's squads last met a season ago on Oct. 12, 2013 in Minneapolis, Minn., when Gators beat the Gophers, 172-124. Florida's women last competed against Minnesota on Oct. 13, 2007 in Minneapolis when UF won by a count of, 168-132.
TROY’S TALKING
On Georgia and the dual meet overall…
“We raced two really good teams today. I thought we raced well, but we just lost a lot of close races. We had two good weeks of training coming into this, but we still have a lot to improve upon heading forward.”
Head Coach Gregg Troy
RELAY MAGIC
Florida notched two relay victories in the dual meet, as senior Jordan Smith, juniors Sinead Russell and Jessica Thielmann and sophomore Alyssa Yambor-Maul won the 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:29.45. The Gator men then won the same event, as senior Dan Wallace, juniors Corey Main and Pawel Werner and freshman Mark Szaranek clocked a time of 3:00.39.
GOING THE DISTANCE
Senior Dan Wallace won his second race of the season, as he placed first in the 500-yard freestyle in a time of 4:25.84.
McKNIGHT’S TIME
Junior Lindsey McKnight won two events, including the 200-yard freestyle (1:47.95) and the 200-yard individual medley (2:01.43).
BREASTSROKE
Gator senior Matt Elliott placed first in the 100-yard breaststroke, as he clocked a time of 54.42 seconds.
ALL ABOARD
Junior Kahlia Warner captured her sixth individual event victory of the season, as she placed first on the one-meter dive with a score of 304.88.
POSTSEASON FOCUS
In addition to UF’s first-place finishes, the Gators recorded 11 NCAA ‘B’ standard marks throughout the dual meet. They were:
· Caeleb Dressel (50 Free, 20.06)
· Matt Elliott (100 Breast, 54.42; 200 Breast, 1:56.83; 200 IM, 1:48.33)
· Christian Homer (100 Fly, 48.24)
· Pawel Werner (200 Free, 1:36.93)
· Natalie Hinds (50 Free, 22.55; 100 Free, 49.37)
· Lindsey McKnight (200 Free, 1:47.95; 200 IM, 2:01.43)
· Sinead Russell (100 Back, 54.36)
