Two Top Five Finishes Highlight Day Two of NCAA Championships for Gator Swimmers
Saturday, March 18, 2006 | Women's Swimming & Diving
The University of Florida women's swim team improved its standing to seventh place on Friday evening during day two of the 2006 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championship Meet in Athens, Ga., as two Gator's notched top-five finishes. Besides the pair of top-five marks the Orange and Blue also set one Florida record and posted six All-Time Top-10 marks, and 10 top-10 season efforts throughout the day.
Senior Vipa Bernhardt (Bad Hersfeld, Germany) topped her season best in the 100 breaststroke championship final and earned third-place with her time of 1:00.43. Bernhardt's mark stands as the fastest this season by a Gator and the fourth-fastest in the UF record books.
In the 100 butterfly final junior Candace Weiman (Castro Valley, Calif.) tied the school record-setting swim she posted in the morning prelim with her time of 52.67. Weiman's career-best-tying mark earned her a fourth-place finish overall, and solidified her place in the Florida history books once again. Head coach Gregg Troy was pleased with the effort and end-result he received from both Weiman and Bernhardt during the second day of finals competition.
“We had some fantastic performances from Vipa and Candace today,” said Troy. “Candace's performance was especially good, she aggravated an old injury last night and wasn't quite at 100 percent tonight, but we definitely got a 100 percent effort from her. Vipa was a little rocky last night in the relays, but came back and turned it around in her events tonight. Both of them have 200's tomorrow and we'll be looking for more outstanding performances.”
The quartet of Vollmer, sophomore Caroline Burckle (Louisville, Ky.), sophomore Natalie Pike (Boca Raton, Fla.) and sophomore Kim Larson (Longwood, Fla.) posted the second-fastest time of the season for the Gator women with their 7:13.27 in the 800 freestyle relay. With the mark UF finished second in its heat and eighth overall.
The 200 medley relay team of sophomore Samantha Vanderbilt (Nashville, Tenn.), Bernhardt, Weiman and freshman Dana Vollmer (Granbury, Texas) posted the fourth-fastest time in Florida history, and the second-best of the season with its mark of 1:40.19. The swim was good enough for a 3rd-place finish in the B-final, and 11th overall.
In the team standings meet-host Georgia took over the top spot with 379 points, while Auburn moved to second with 326 points and Arizona dropped to third with 315. California sits in fourth with 205 and Stanford rounds out the top five with a point total of 164. The Florida women improved their standing during day two, moving from 14th to seventh. Troy was pleased the Gator women were able to improve their standing during the second day of the meet, and hopeful the Orange and Blue will continue to get better during the final day.
“We put ourselves in a better position today,” said Troy. “We knew coming in today was a stronger day for us and we performed to our expectations in most areas. We aren't as consistent at this point as I'd like us to be. Our relays still aren't as fast as we'd like, but at least tonight we put one in the finals so from that standpoint we are improving. Tomorrow is an even better day for us, so we should continue to get better.”
Action resumes at the 2006 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships Saturday morning at 11 a.m. with preliminary heats of the 1650 freestyle, 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly and 400 freestyle relay, followed by finals heats of the same events at 7 p.m. A full recap and results will be available following both the Saturday preliminary and finals sessions at www.gatorzone.com, or up-to-the-minutes stats and times can be seen via live-scoring at http://georgiadogs.collegesports.com/sports/c-swim/c-swim-history/2006-w-swim-ncaas/geo-06-w-swim-ncaa-schedule.htm.
Day Two Preliminary Recap
Junior Candace Weiman (Castro Valley, Calif.) broke her own Florida record in the 100 butterfly for the second time this season, with a 52.67 performance in the prelims, eclipsing her previous mark of 52.70, set at the 2006 SEC Championships. Weiman took second-place in the prelim with the career-best swim to earn a spot in the championship final of the event. Freshman Dana Vollmer (Granbury, Texas) also competed in the 100 fly prelim, earning 23rd place with her 54.50 effort.
In the 100 breaststroke senior Vipa Bernhardt (Bad Hersfeld, Germany) recorded the than fourth-fastest time in school history with a 1:00.55. Bernhardt's than season-best effort, which she improved on in the finals, earned her third-place in the prelim.
The Gator's started off the morning session with a fifth-place finish in the 200 medley relay. The quartet of sophomore Samantha Vanderbilt (Nashville, Tenn.), Bernhardt, Weiman and Vollmer recorded a time of 1:40.81 in the preliminary heat, to advance them to the evening B-final with a 10th-place finish overall.
Sophomore Caroline Burckle (Louisville, Ky.) just missed the finals cut with her 1:47.84 performance in the 200 freestyle prelim, the third-fastest time posted by a Gator this season. Burckle's 17th-place finish meant she would serve as the first alternate in the event for the evening finals.
Sophomores Kim Larson (Longwood, Fla.) and Natalie Pike (Boca Raton, Fla.) also competed in the 200 free prelim, earning times of 1:49.41 and 1:49.50, respectively. Freshman Laurabeth Guenthner (Wellington, Fla.) rounded out the Gator competitors in the event with a 1:50.08 finish to claim 48th place, while Larson and Pike were 40th and 41st overall.
In the 100 backstroke event Vanderbilt notched the second-fastest time by a Gator this season and the eighth-fastest all-time with her 55.23 effort. Vanderbilt posted a 29th-place finish with the swim.
In the 400 individual medley junior Ashley Carusone (Gainesville, Fla.) notched a 4:22.40 to finish 33rd in the prelim. Junior Jamie Reid (Orlando, Fla.) also competed in the event, posting a 4:25.87 to claim 37th.
Day Two Finals First Place Finishers
| Name | School | Event | Time |
| Harm, Poewe, Descenza, Joyce | Georgia | 200y Medley Relay | 1:37.24 |
| Whitney Myers | Arizona | 400y IM | 4:06.32 |
| Mary Descenza | Georgia | 100y Butterfly | 51.56 |
| Kara Lynn Joyce | Georgia | 200y Freestyle | 1:43.96 |
| Jessica Hardy | California | 100y Breaststroke | 1:00.02 |
| Rachel Goh | Auburn | 100y Backstroke | 52.35 |
| Descenza, Cole, Maust, Joyce | Georgia | 800y Freestyle Relay | 7:03.75 |
Top-10 Team Standings Following Day Two
| Place | School | Points |
| 1 | Georgia | 379 |
| 2 | Auburn | 326 |
| 3 | Arizona | 315 |
| 4 | California | 205 |
| 5 | Stanford | 164 |
| 6 | Southern California | 140 |
| 7 | Florida | 101 |
| 8 | Wisconsin | 93 |
| 8 | Texas | 93 |
| 10 | Texas A&M | 90 |
Day Two Florida Finals Times
| Name | Event | Time | Place |
| Vanderbilt, Bernhardt, Weiman, Vollmer | 200y Medley Relay | 1:40.19 | 11th |
| Candace Weiman | 100y Butterfly | 52.67 | 4th |
| Vipa Bernhardt | 100y Breaststroke | 1:00.43 | 3rd |
| Vollmer, Burckle, Pike, Larson | 800y Freestyle Relay | 7:13.27 | 8th |
Day Two Florida Prelim Times
| Name | Event | Time | Place |
| Vanderbilt, Bernhardt, Weiman, Vollmer | 200y MR | 1:40.81 | 10th |
| Ashley Carusone | 400y IM | 4:22.40 | 33rd |
| Jamie Reid | 400y IM | 4:25.87 | 37th |
| Candace Weiman | 100y Butterfly | 52.67 | 2nd |
| Dana Vollmer | 100y Butterfly | 54.40 | 23rd |
| Caroline Burckle | 200y Freestyle | 1:47.84 | 17th |
| Natalie Pike | 200y Freestyle | 1:49.50 | 41st |
| Vipa Bernhardt | 100y Breaststroke | 1:00.55 | 3rd |
| Samantha Vanderbilt | 100y Backstroke | 55.23 | 29th |
Florida NCAA Championship Accomplishments
| Day One | Day Two | Day Three | Total | |
| Win | 0 | 0 | - | 0 |
| Top Three | 0 | 1 | - | 1 |
| Top Five | 1 | 1 | - | 2 |
| Top Ten | 1 | 1 | - | 2 |
| A-Final Qualifiers | 1 | 2 | - | 3 |
| B-Final Qualifiers | 4 | 1 | - | 5 |
| Florida Best | 0 | 1 | - | 1 |
| Career Best | 1 | 1 | - | 2 |
| Season Best | 5 | 3 | - | 8 |
| All-Time Top 10 | 3 | 6 | - | 9 |
| Season Top-10 | 14 | 10 | - | 24 |
