No. 4 Florida Welcomes No. 2 Georgia in Home-Opener
Wednesday, October 29, 2008 | Women's Swimming & Diving
In a showdown amongst four of the nation's top-10 swimming and diving programs, the No. 4 Gator men's and women's swimming and diving teams host the No. 2 and No. 9 Georgia Bulldog teams in their season home-opener at 2 p.m. in the O'Connell Center Thursday.
With two dual meets under their belts, the Gator men (1-1, 1-0 SEC) enter the dual with No. 9 Georgia ready to race. Since the experience of a loss in the season-opener against No. 5 Michigan Oct. 17, the UF squad has come together, incorporating a talented freshman class with the key veteran returners.
In the last meeting between the two men's teams, Florida outswam Georgia, racking up 132 points to UGA's 111 last season in Athens. Thursday, UF and UGA will take to the pool for the 74th time in the history of the series. The Gators hold the all-time advantage, 56-15-2. At the 2008 SEC Championship meet, the Florida men rallied to finish second, ahead of Georgia.
The Florida men will look to their key veteran returners to provide leadership in the challenge. SEC Men's Swimmer of the Week Omar Pinzon (Bogota, Colombia) will be amongst the leaders. In last week's SEC opener against LSU, Florida won 11 events of the 16-event meet lineup, with both Pinzon and junior Clark Burckle (Louisville, Ky.) each claiming two individual event titles, on top of the first-place 200-yard medley relay finish. Burckle clocked in first in both the 200-yard fly and 200-yard breast, while Pinzon claimed the 100-yard back and 100-yard fly. Pinzon's 100-yard fly time marked a collegiate best at 48.98. Pinzon's 100-yard back and 100-yard fly times are the fastest times in the SEC thus far on the season.
On the women's side, the No. 4 Gators enter a challenging dual against the No. 2 Georgia women. After the first three meets of the season, the Gators stand 2-1 overall (1-0 SEC). Head coach Gregg Troy and the Florida coaching staff look to the talent and depth of the freshman class, that has proven its value so far this season. Freshmen Teresa Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa.) and Shara Stafford (Topeka, Kan.) have led the squad in individual performances, along with the veteran returner in junior Gemma Spofforth (West Sussex, England). Crippen and Stafford have both reeled in SEC Female Freshman of the Week accolades from the SEC as top performers for the squad.
Spofforth was the top finisher for UF in the 100 and 200-yard back events as UF swept all 16 events to defeat SEC opponent LSU last week. Spofforth, the 2008 defending NCAA Champion in both back events, captured NCAA B provisional qualifying times, while also shattering LSU Natatorium records with the victory marks.
While the Gators edged the No. 2 Georgia squad at the 2008 SEC Championship last spring, the Bulldogs claimed victory in last season's dual meet in Athens. Florida fell, 148-95, to the then No. 5 Bulldogs. Florida and Georgia will take to the water Thursday in the 23rd match-up between the two programs. The Orange and Blue will look to increase its wins in the series, as currently holding the all-time advantage, 13-9. Florida last surpassed Georgia in dual meet action during the 2006-07 season, when it topped the Dogs 129-144 on Oct. 26, 2006, in Gainesville.
Both Georgia men's and women's programs visit Gainesville for their second meet of the season. The Bulldogs entered a two-week idle period after defeating the North Carolina Tar Heels Oct. 15. Both programs enter the Florida/Georgia dual 1-0, after the women topped the No. 15 Tar Heels, 169-126, while the Georgia men posted a, 152-148, tight victory over
the No. 13 North Carolina men two weeks ago.
Complete results following the SEC showdown between Florida and Georgia can be found on www.GatorZone.com at the conclusion of the event.
