Lochte, Ally and Bernhardt Highlight SEC S&D Awards
Tuesday, April 11, 2006 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Fresh off breaking three World Records and winning a trio of NCAA titles, senior Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) was named SEC Male Swimmer of the Year on Tuesday. Bradley Ally (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) was named SEC Freshman of the Year for his performance in 2005-06, while six additional Florida swimmers earned All-SEC honors. On the women's side, Vipa Bernhardt (Bad Hersfeld, Germany) was named SEC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Lochte wins the award for the third time in his career after setting NCAA records last month in the 200 IM, 400 IM, 100 back and 200 back. He was named the NCAA Swimmer of the Year for a second consecutive season following his historical performance. Lochte has been the recipient of the SEC's highest honors, including the 2005 Roy F. Kramer Male Athlete of the Year Award. Over his four-year career at Florida, Lochte has set the school record in five individual events and four relays. He has tallied a total of seven NCAA Championships, seven SEC titles and 24 All-American honors. Lochte was a First Team All-SEC selection.
“It's certainly well deserved,” Florida head coach Gregg Troy said. “He had another phenomenal year. If you look at the results from the NCAA and the SEC meet, he is probably the best swimmer in the SEC ever.”
Although Lochte's name is etched several swimming record books, his toughness formed a competitive reputation that has helped rejuvenate the Florida swimming program. Even during Lochte's freshman year, he displayed a level of intensity that was unmatched.
“There was a situation at the SEC Championships his freshman year where he broke his goggles stepping up to the block,” Troy said. “So he just threw them down and swam without the goggles. It just showed the type of intensity he had.”
While the Gators were preparing for life after Lochte, not far away Ally was quietly putting together a consistent season. In his first campaign with the Gators he finished second in the 200 breast at the SEC Championships in February with a career-best time of 1:57.14. He also captured second place in the 400 IM with a career-best time of 3:45.63 and third in the 200 IM with a career-best time of 1:45.36. At the NCAA Championships, Ally earned six All-American honors to help the Gators finish in fifth-place. Ally also earned Second Team All-SEC honors for his performance this season.
“Bradley shows exactly the same characteristics that we saw with Ryan as a freshman,” Troy said. “I haven't gone back to look, but I think he is almost faster than Ryan was as a freshman and in some ways he is more mechanically sound. I feel good about his future because he seems every bit committed and focused about his career.”
Senior Brian Hartley (Indianapolis, Ind.) led a group of four Gators on the First Team All-SEC. Hartley earned four All-American honors at the NCAA Championships in Atlanta last month.
“Class act,” Troy said of Hartley. “There are not many guys you get for four years, who improve all four years. He was a great leader, is graduating on time and already has a job. He was kind of a blue-collar guy and the glue that held everything together. He took his tools and did the most with them.”
Other Gator First Team All-SEC recipients included sophomore Darian Townsend (Pietermaritzburg, South Aftrica) and freshman Lucas Salatta (Sao Paulo, Brazil). Sophomore Luca DeMatteis (Naples, Italy) and Daniel Penniman (Pensacola, Fla.) also earned Second Team All-SEC honors.
For the second consecutive year Bernhardt earned Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors. With a double-major in Music Performance (Piano) and Neurobiological Sciences, Bernhardt has been on the Dean's List every semester at Florida (seven) and appeared on the SEC Academic Honor Roll each year that she was eligible for the award. She was honored as the 2005 SEC Women's Scholar-Athlete of the Year and was also nominated for and won the Outstanding International Student Award through UF's College of Fine Arts in 2005. Also in 2005, Bernhardt was named Second-Team Academic All-America, and received ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District accolades.
In the water for the Gators Bernhardt is a five-time SEC Champion, a 19-time All-American and a 19-time All-SEC honoree. She was a member of the German Olympic team at the 2004 Games in Athens, Greece and holds Florida's All-Time records in the 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke, and as a member of the 200 and 400 medley relay squads.
During the 2005-06 campaign Bernhardt was the SEC champion in the 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke events, and took runner-up honors at the NCAA Championship meet in the 200 breaststroke, while she claimed third-place in the 100 event. Throughout the season she claimed 22 first-place finishes and notched 37 NCAA provisional swims, as well as seven automatic times.
“She was almost as good a candidate for Female Swimmer of the Year” Troy said. “She did a lot of her training in a modified schedule this year because her class schedule is so demanding. There was one day a week she had to train one-on-one with the assistant coaches because she couldn't make the regular practice schedule. Not only is she a great student she is easily one of the most outstanding swimmers in the country.”
Junior Candace Weiman (Castro Valley, Calif.) received Second-Team All-SEC accolades.
Weiman, a 16-time All-American and 12-time All-SEC honoree, took second place at the SEC Championships in the 100 butterfly, and posted a third-place finish in the 200 butterfly. At the NCAA Championships she notched fourth place finishes in both butterfly events for the Gators.
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