Florida Men's Swimming Signs Seven Future Gators
Friday, November 21, 2008 | Men's Swimming & Diving
After welcoming three new Gator women to the Florida swimming program Thursday, head coach Gregg Troy officially announced the seven fall signees for the men's swim squad Friday. Among the class of seven, four men hail from Florida, while two out-of-state swimmers and one international signee will begin their collegiate swimming careers with the Gators in Aug. 2009.
Floridian's Eric Moore, John Orban, Scott Sommer and Jason Taylor join North Carolina native Ben Correll, Evan Wollman of Maryland and Csaba Gercsak, a Budapest, Hungary, native and brother of current Gator swimmer Balazs Gercsak.
Three of the seven future Gators in Correll, Orban and Taylor have national-level experience as members of the National Junior Team, a quality that impresses Troy.
“We have never signed three National Junior Team members in the same year,” Troy said. “As a group, we're extremely excited about who we've signed and we have filled some obvious voids with these seven men. Among the men, we have four state champions and four runner-up finishers. The runner-up guys came second to swimmers that are encompassed in our group of seven newcomers. Jason (Taylor), Eric (Moore), John (Orban) and Scott (Sommer) are four of the best freestylers in the country that cover all three freestyle classifications – sprint, middle distance and distance free.”
Proving the depth of the Florida freestylers, Sommer and Taylor most recently finished first and second, respectively, in the 200-yard free at the FHSAA 2A State Championships meet Nov. 15, while Sommer captured the 100-yard free event title as well. Taylor struck again to capture the 500 free title. Just a couple days prior at the Class 3A State meet, Moore reeled in the 100 and 200-yard free titles, while Orban took the 200 IM title in the Class 1A 200-yard IM.
Moore, a Lakeland High School product, boasts All-American times both the 100 and 200 free events, and has been honored as a three-time Polk County Swimmer of the Year, where he holds records in the 50, 100 and 200 free events. Moore is additionally a Junior and National meet qualifier and a Pinch-a-Penny all-state and all-area selection. In addition to his success in the pool, Moore has garnered Academic Honors with Distinction, recording a 4.0 or higher GPA from 2005-present and has also received U.S.A. Swimming Scholastic All-America Team honors.
Sommer, an Ocala, Fla., native, who most recently took home the 100 and 200 free titles at the 2A State meet, was named the Marion County Swimmer of the Year and has been Forest High School's team MVP all four year's of high school. Sommer additionally holds Forest records in the 50, 100 and 200-yard free races.
“Scott has been a surprise swimmer in the state,” Troy said of Sommer. “We feel extremely fortunate and lucky to have him. His performance at the state meet this year took him to another level.”
Orban, a Sarasota Christian High School swimmer and the 2008 1A 200 IM state champion and 500 free runner-up, currently trains with the Sarasota YMCA Sharks. A National Junior Team member, Orban placed third in the 1500 free, fifth in the 400 free and eighth in the 800 free at the 2008 Junior National Meet.
Not only do the seven newcomers boast national experience, a couple have experience at the international level. Taylor, a Newsome, Fla., product, was a gold-medalist in the 400 and 800-meter freestyle races at the 2008 Junior National Championship meet in Aug., but also competed at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials in the 1500-meter free after qualifying for the meet in both the 400 and 1500 free events. Taylor also boasts experience in the butterfly events as the 2007 2A Florida State Champion on the 100 fly.
Also tabulating a plethora of international experience as a 2008 Olympian is Gercsak. Traditionally a stellar open water swimmer, the Hungary native, specializes in longer distance freestyle races and will look to impact the Gator squad in the distance free events. Gercsak boasts tremendous experience in both the 5K and 10K open water races, qualifying for the Beijing Games in the 10K race. Gercsak's international experience extends from the Olympic Games to the World Championships, to the European and National Short Course Championships, and will provide Florida with a distance freestyle edge.
Wollman, a DeMatha Catholic High School All-American, has been the Maryland State Champion in the breaststroke events multiple years of his high school career. As the DeMatha team captain, Wollman holds Maryland records in several events that he swims, is a high school All-American, and is a two-time Maryland state age group swimmer.
“Evan is one of the best breaststrokers in the country,” Troy said of Wollman. “He has a bright future with the University of Florida.”
Correll, one of the three National Junior Team members, looks to fill a void for the Gators in the IM events. With several IM seniors graduating at the end of the 2008-09 season, the coaching staff will look to Correll to provide help in the medley events. The North Carolina native trains with SwimMAC Carolina, and finished fourth in the 400 free at the 2008 Junior National meet. Correll is also a member of the 2007 Junior National meet record 800-meter free relay quartet.
“Ben fills a big need for us,” Troy said. “We are running shallow in the IM events and he's a very good medley swimmer. He comes highly recommended out of a good program in North Carolina.”
The seven men's signees join UF's three women's newcomers to collaborate for a fall recruiting class of 10. All 10 future Gators will join the swimming and diving squad for the 2009-10 season.
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