Gator Relay Sets New UF, SEC Meet Record

Friday, February 19

Columbia, Mo.

All Day

Florida Gators

SEC Championships

Photo: David Owens Photography

Gator Relay Sets New UF, SEC Meet Record

Friday, February 19, 2016 | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving

Gators return to action Saturday at 11 a.m. ET

By: Benjamin Schmitz

Complete Results

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The University of Florida men's swimming and diving team captured their third Southeastern Conference Relay Title to close out Day Four competition at the 2016 SEC Championships on Friday Night. The Gator men gathered 64 points with the win which brings their first-place point total to 982 as they head into the final day of competition. Second-place Auburn sits at 952 points.

The relay team of sophomores Caeleb Dressel a and Jan Switkowski, junior Jack Blyzinskyj, and senior Corey Main accepted the title after clocking a time of 3:03.86 -- a new UF and SEC Meet record. The men's relays are now a perfect 3-for-3 this week.

While the relay provided the perfect ending to UF's fourth day inside the Mizzou Aquatic Center, success was had all around by the Orange and Blue.

On the women's end, UF gathered 47 points from junior Allyssa Yambor-Maul's sixth-place showing (1:56.10) and junior Taylor Katz's seventh-place finishes in the 200-Yard Butterfly event. Katz, a 2015 bronze medalist in the race, touched out with a time of 1:56.10 -- which bested her previous mark of 1:57.36 from the prelims.

The men also enjoyed success in the event, bringing in 77 points off a trio of 'A' finalists in sophomores Jan Switkowski (4th, 1:41.98) and Mark Szaranek (8th, 1:44.06) and senior Austin Manganiello -- who finished sixth after touching the wall at the 1:42.96 mark.

In the 100-Yard backstroke, the Gator men continued to shine, pulling in 73 points off four Gator finalists. Junior Jack Blyzinskyj paced the Florida men with a third-place finish in the event, clocking a time of 45.66. Corey Main joined Blyzinskyj in the 'A' final and swam a time of 46.26 which was good for sixth place. Newcomers Brennan Balogh (14th, 47.79) and Bayley Main (17th, 47.27) rounded out the scoring for UF in the 'B' and 'C' finals.

In the diving well, freshman Sam Smith gathered his third Top-10 finish on the week. The Knoxville, Tennessee, native posted a six-dive score of 335.35 -- which brought in 20 points off a ninth-place showing.

Both the men's and women's swimming and diving teams return to action tomorrow at 11 a.m. ET for the fifth and final day of competition. Tomorrow's events include: 200-Yard Backstroke, 100-Yard Freestyle, 200-Yard Breaststoke, 1,650-Yard Freestyle, and Women's Platform Diving.

Florida Head Coach Gregg Troy on the afternoon:
"We had another good day. We were outstanding this morning and did everything right. We missed a couple spots this morning and gave up some ground. But this was definitely our 'weak' day. I'm really proud of the way our men raced tonight.
In addition, we saw some really good races from our women tonight in the 200-Yard Butterfly -- they each posted times that have a real good chance to put them in the NCAA meet.

Head Diving Coach Dale Schultz on the Afternoon:
"I was pretty excited about the way the boys dove today. They each missed a dive but they hung in there and did what they could to help the men's team out as best they could. Hopefully it was enough."

Men's and Women's Standings Following Day Three at the SEC Championships

Men	Score	Women	Score
Florida	982	Texas A&M	847.5
Auburn	952	Tennessee	828.5
Georgia	802	Georgia	815.5
Alabama	673	Missouri	545
Missouri	667	Auburn	538
Tennessee	534	Florida	507
South Carolina	432	LSU	482
Texas A&M	418	Kentucky	405
LSU	418	Alabama	377
Kentucky	418	Arkansas	371
		South Carolina	324.5
		Vanderbilt	130