NCAA Day Three Prelims: Florida Sweeps 1-2-3 in 200 Back
Saturday, March 21, 2009 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Florida opened the final day of NCAA competition with a bang, claiming the top three spots in preliminaries of the 200-yard backstroke. NCAA and U.S. Open record-holder and defending national champion Gemma Spofforth (West Sussex, England), junior Stephanie Proud (Durham, England) and freshman Teresa Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa.) finished first, second and third, respectively, out of the seven heats of the event Saturday morning.
Notably, the trio finished first-through-third at the 2009 SEC Championship meet with Spofforth first, Crippen second and Proud third.
Crippen returned in the 200-yard fly to swim a UF career-best time in the event, placing 22nd overall with a 1:56.53, surpassing her season-best 1:56.65. Fellow freshman Jemma Lowe (Hartlepool, England), who took seventh in the 100 fly Friday, clocked a 1:53.87 in the 200-yard event to advance to the championship final Saturday evening. Lowe finished fifth in the morning prelim heats.
In 200-yard breaststroke action, freshman Kirsten Smith (Cary, N.C.) swam a career-best time in the event, clocking a 2:12.89, the fourth-fastest time in UF history. Smith placed 35th overall in the breaststroke field preliminaries.
In platform diving, both Gator divers, Kara Salamone (Hollywood, Fla.) and Monica Dodson (Franklin, Ind.) qualified for finals, Salamone for the championship heat, Dodson for the consolation final. Salamone dove to a fifth-place, 292.25-point finish in prelims, while Dodson solidified a 231.70, good for 16th. Platform consolation finals are slated to start at approximately 3:15 p.m. (CT), while the final round will occur during Saturday evening finals.
Florida closed out prelims with a 15th-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay, composed of junior Liz Kemp (Potomac, Md.), Spofforth, junior Stephanie Napier (Chattanooga, Tenn.) and freshman Sarah Bateman (Orlando, Fla.). The relay team swam to a time of 3:17.55, qualifying for the consolation final during Saturday's second session.
Finals of the final day of competition are set to begin at 7 p.m. (CT). Gator fans can follow the meet live here or visit www.GatorZone.com following finals for complete results and a recap of the Gators' 2009 NCAA Championship campaign.
Florida Preliminary Results
200 Backstroke
1. Gemma Spofforth: 1:51.55
2. Stephanie Proud: 1:52.25
3. Teresa Crippen: 1:52.60
44. Anna Pold: 1:57.23
47. Sarah Peterson: 1:57.79
200 Breaststroke
35. Kirsten Smith: 2:12.89 – Career-best, fourth-fastest in UF history
200 Butterfly
5. Jemma Lowe: 1:53.87
22. Teresa Crippen: 1:56.53 – UF career-best
36. Julianne Lago: 1:59.03
40. Anna Pold: 2:02.06
400 Freestyle Relay
15. Kemp, Spofforth, Napier, Bateman: 3:17.55
Leadoff Split (49.40)
1,650 Freestyle
Laurabeth Guenthner (swimming in the championship heat during Saturday finals, 7 p.m. CT)
Kristen Beales – Starts at 4:45 (CT)
Melani Costa-Schmid – Starts at 4:45 (CT)
Platform Diving
5. Kara Salamone: 292.25
16. Monica Dodson: 231.70
-UF-
