Florida To Host FAU, Honor Seniors in Final Dual Meet
Friday, February 8, 2008 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Florida's senior swimmers and divers will take to the pool one last time in their career as the Gators play host to Florida Atlantic for the final regular season dual meet this year at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
18 seniors will be honored as part of a pre-meet ceremony for their dedication and contribution to the Gators over the last four or five years. In all, this year's senior class has turned in 62 All-American honors and 117 All-SEC honors. One senior, J.B. Walsh (Virginia Beach, Virginia) has already been selected to his nation's Olympic team, while 15 of his teammates have qualified for the 2008 Olympic Trials in 30 events. The Trials will be held in June in Omaha, Nebraska.
The United States was represented by six members of the Class of 2008 over the course of their four years, while one senior, Caroline Burckle (Louisville, Ky.), was named to the U.S. National Team this year for her gold medal performance in the 800-meter free at the Pan American Games.
Tobias Work (Falmouth, Mass.) also joined Burckle on the medal stand, winning a silver medal in the 400-meter free.
Overall, this year's senior class will look to add another win to their already impressive overall records. The men's class currently stands at 38-12 overall in dual meets, while the women's team sits with an impressive 40-7 record in duals.
The women's class also picked up the first win of any Gator senior class over rival Auburn, since the 1993-94 season.
While the accomplishments in the water are impressive, the list of academic accolades is just as remarkable. Each of the Gator seniors has been named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll at least once throughout their career. The class also boasts an ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American in Kevin Nead (Ithaca, N.Y.). Nead also became just the second male in school history to be named the 2007 SEC Men's Swimming and Diving Scholar Athlete of the Year. Among his many achievements, Nead was also recently inducted into the Matthews Society at UF and returned to his team this spring after spending six months in France studying the genetics of Type II Diabetes.
The Gators are facing FAU on senior day for the second straight year. The third ranked women hold an 11-0 all time record against the Owls, while the men stand at 10-0.
Fans are asked to enter through Gate 2 of the O'Connell Center for the meet. Diving will begin at 11:30 and will be followed by a 12:30 senior presentation before the meet commences at 1:00 p.m.
