The University of Florida men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams had an outstanding performance on Friday night inside the O’Connell Center Natatorium to open up Day One action at the Pinch A Penny All Florida Invite.
The Florida men captured four individual titles and two relay victories while the UF women won four individual events and one relay. Both teams currently lead the Invite with 344 (men) and 331 (women) points, respectively.
Individually, the Gator men were led by sophomore Caeleb Dressel, as he won the 200 individually medley in a time of 1:47.87 seconds. In addition, he was also a member of the men’s 200 freestyle relay team which took first after touching out with a time of 1:19.61.
On the women’s end, Natalie Hinds won the 50 freestyle, coming in at the 23.00 second mark and was a member of the first-place finishing 200 freestyle relay quartet (1:32.53)
Throughout the day, the Orange and Blue registered five NCAA ‘B’ cut provisional times.
In the diving well, the UF women shined, going 1-2 off the one-meter board. Kahlia Warner took first with a score of 306.55 and Delaney Dye (265.25) followed behind in second. Each gathered NCAA ‘A’ diving standards on the night (265.00).
Newcomer Sam Smith led the way on the men’s side, finishing a close second behind Florida State’s Tyler Roberge. Smith registered a score of 350.70. Senior Zach Hernandez came in third, diving to a score of 327.45.
Nesty’s Take:
“You never know what you’re going to get on the first meet of the season. I thought the freshmen swam pretty well for their first time out.
“In addition, our returners have done a great job training this offseason. They’ve been able to help out those newcomers a lot and teach them the ropes along the way.
“Our captains showed tremendous leadership and had everyone ready to go this afternoon. We’re looking forward to tomorrow and Sunday and we’ll be ready to go.”
Schultz Said:
“Overall I thought it was a good start. I’m excited about the way both our men’s and women’s team’s competed tonight.
“Kahlia Warner has never done a reverse two and a half somersault in a meet. We changed it right before she started tonight and that affected her score a little bit. For her, it’s an opportunity to experiment a bit and get ready for the NCAA meet.
“Both Kahlia and Delaney Dye had NCAA diving scores today which was really exciting. We’re happy with the way Emily Mosher and all of our divers as a group came out today.
“On the men’s side, Sam Smith and Zach Hernandez did a great job for this early in the contest. It was a tight contest between Sam and Tyler [Roberge] from Florida State. Sam got a little anxious [and missed] his last dive, and that’s part of being a freshman.
“We’re way ahead of where we were last year -- both the men and the women. Now we’re just anxious and getting ready for tomorrow.”
Up Next:
Both the men’s and women’s teams will be back in action tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. for Day Two preliminaries inside the O’Connell Center Natatorium.
