The fourth-ranked University of Florida men’s and 11th-ranked women’s swimming and diving teams swept the Florida State Seminoles on Saturday night inside the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, Florida. The men’s team scored a 188-109 win over the 24th-ranked Seminoles while the 11th-ranked Florida women registered a 200-93 victory.
The Orange and Blue had a fast start to the meet, taking wins in their first seven races before allowing a Florida State victory. Those seven wins included a pair of relay crowns in the 400-meter Medley relay, the women’s 800-meter freestyle (Jessica Theilmann), the men’s 1500-meter freestyle (Arthur Frayler), the men’s (Mitch D’Arrigo) and women’s (Lindsey McKnight) 200-meter freestyles, and the women’s 100-meter backstroke (Georgia-Mae Hohmann).
Tonight’s meet was swam in a long course format (50-meter pool) where participants had the opportunity to qualify for their respective country’s Olympic Trials. Caeleb Dressel was the lone American to hit a U.S. time standard, respectively, but that didn’t stop multiple Gators from hitting the U.S. standards which are still comparable to their own home country’s standards.
Hohmann in both the100-meter (1:02.72) and 200-meter (2:13.06) backstrokes, Jan Switkowski in the 200-meter butterfly (2:01.30), Caeleb Dressel in the 100-meter butterfly (54.18), and Mark Szaranek in the 200-meter IM (2:05.92).
Outside of the time trials, the Gator women were led by Hohmann and Natalie Hinds who each won all four of their events. The Florida men received a four-win performance from newcomer Jan Switkowski who gathered top finishes in all four of his respective races. Caeleb Dressel also had a strong outing, taking wins in three of his four events.
In the diving well, Senior Kahlia Warner led the way with a pair of wins off the 1-Meter (318.00) and 3-Meter (348.98) while Delaney Dye and Emily Mosher finished 2-3 off both boards behind her.
Dalton Goss took fourth in the men’s 1-meter event, pacing the Florida divers with a score of 299.70. Sam Smith was Florida’s top finisher off the 3-Meter after diving to a second-place mark of 376.80. Zach Hernandez finished close behind in third (346.28).
The Auburn men's and women's swimming and diving teams will join the Gators inside the Stephen C. O'Connell Center on Saturday, Jan. 23, at 11 a.m. ET. The meet will mark Florida's final home meet of the season. All UF seniors will be honored prior to the start of the meet.
Florida State
The Florida State swimming and diving teams fell to (No. 3/14) Florida in Gainesville at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center on Saturday in a long course meters dual meet.
“I was very happy with the effort all around,” FSU head coach Frank Bradley said. “Our guys and gals fought from start to finish. They got better today and they just got up and raced. We still have work to do as we turn this corner for our season, but very proud of our effort.”
Florida won the women’s meet by a score of 200-93, while the men’s score was 188-109 in favor of the Gators.
“Our guys started off well,” Bradley said. “I was very happy with the energy and I knew if we could go in there and race hard we could put ourselves in a great spot.”
The 23rd-ranked men gave the Gators all they could handle to start the meet, however Florida pulled away in the back half to overcome an 11-point deficit after 3-meter diving.
The Seminoles surrendered a one-two punch in the 400m medley relay and a sweep in the 200m free to start the meet, but sophomore Connor Kalisz helped the Noles bounce back by leading the 100m back from start to finish, touching with a final time of 57.95 after splitting 57.55 in the 400m medley relay. The time was just shy of the Olympic Trial cut of 57.19.
Junior Jason Coombs followed with a victory in the 100m breast with a time of 1:05.70 and sophomore Rafael Van Leeuwaarde touched in third with a time of 1:07.17.
“I was very pleased with those guys,” Bradley said. “Especially Kalisz, I thought he had great 100’s and a solid 200.”
The Gators grabbed first and second in the 200 fly, however the Seminoles answered with a one-two finish in the 50m free as sophomore Chad Mylin won the race from the outside lane eight at 23.35. Junior Jason McCormick touched in second at 23.56 and rookie Kanoa Kaleoaloha completed the sweep in third at 23.98.
“Chad was awesome from that outside lane,” Bradley said. “That was awesome to see. That event has become very strong for us and I was happy to see those guys compete as hard as they did.”
Sophomore Tyler Roberge help extend the lead with first place points from 3-meter, scoring 393.90. Before swimming, senior Kalonji Cole won 1-meter in his first meet back since injuring his ankle, scoring 321.68. Roberge (318.68) and junior Dylan Grisell (310.35) completed the sweep, finishing second and third.
“Kalonji had a heck of a 1-meter,” FSU head diving coach John Proctor said. “He’s been injured and to come back and dominate was awesome and Tyler too had a great day. I thought our kids did a solid job.”
The Gators made their move starting with the 100 free, winning the remaining races including two sweeps in the distance events and a one-two punch in the 200m IM.
McCormick (52.83) finished second in the 100m free before Kalisz (2:05.17) touched in second in the 200m back and Coombs (2:25.38) was out-touched, placing second in the 200 breast. Senior Cole Hensley was also runner up in the 100m fly at 55.61.
In the women’s contest, sophomore Natalie Pierce hung on to win the 100m breast with a time of 1:15.02.
Freshman Summer Finke came back to finish second in the 800m free, touching with a time of 8:58.87, just ahead of UF’s and sister Autumn Finke in third (8:59.01). Finke added a third place finish in the 400 free with a time of 4:27.26.
Junior Lydia Ware touched in second place in the 50m free with a time of 27.22 and freshman Leila Johnston was just shy of a win in the 100 fly, touching in second with a time of 1:03.06.
“Natalie had a really good 100,” Bradley said. “She swam a very smooth race. Lydia was just awesome in that 50. She was right near that Olympic Trial cut and she’s been improving a lot this season. I think if she continues on this path, she’ll have no trouble getting that this spring.”
The Seminoles will host Louisville on Jan. 8-9.
