Eleven Gators Prepare to Hit the Water at the 2009 NCAA Championship Meet
Wednesday, March 25, 2009 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Eleven members of the No. 7 University of Florida men's swimming & diving team arrived in College Station, Texas, Tuesday for competition at the 2009 NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships, set to run March 26-28 at the Student Rec Center Natatorium on the Texas A&M University campus.
Florida, Tennesee and Minnesota (11), FSU and Michigan (12), Virginia (13), Cal (16), Arizona (17), Auburn (18), Texas and Stanford (19) boast the most student-athletes represented at the 2009 NCAA Championships, amongst a field of 304 total athletes set to compete at the 2009 showdown in College Station.
Florida enters the NCAA Championship meet after posting an 8-2 (4-1 SEC) record and claiming second at the 2009 SEC Championship meet Feb. 18-21 in Auburn, Ala. Senior Bradley Ally's (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) two SEC Championships (200 & 400IM), junior Shaune Fraser's (George Town, Cayman Islands) 200-yard free title and senior Rex Tullius' (Port Orange, Fla.) 200 back crown gave the Florida men 55 individual SEC titles all-time.
The 200 back title was Tullius' first individual SEC title of his career. At the time, Tullius swam the fastest time in the NCAA so far in the 2008-09 season, the fourth-fastest time all-time, with only Michigan's Tyler Clary surpassing Tullius' mark a week later. Not only did Tullius capture the title, but Florida's Omar Pinzon (Bogota, Colombia) rallied for the second-place spot and holds the third-fastest time this season in the 200 back.
Pinzon additionally tied for second in the men's high point at the SEC meet, racking up 50 points for the Gators. Ally, Fraser, Pinzon and Tullius all return as scorers for the Gators at the 2008 NCAA meet and look to make an impact during their 2009 campaign as well.
Ally enters the 2009 NCAA meet with the fastest seeded time in the 200-yard IM (1:41.96), the third-fastest time in the 400-yard IM (3:41.35) and will also swim the 200-yard fly. Fraser holds the third-fastest 200 fly time heading into the NCAA meet, and is heated 10th in the 200 free. The SEC Champion in Tullius holds the second-fastest 200 back time and is seeded 12th in the 100-yard back. No current Gator on the men's roster has reeled in a national championship title in his career at UF.
A recap following morning preliminary action each day can be found on www.GatorZone.com, as well as complete results and a recap following finals each evening.
FLORIDA PRE-MEET NOTES: CLICK HERE
LAST TIME OUT FOR THE GATORS
2008-09 Dual Meet Record
(8-2 overall, 4-1 SEC)
UF All-Time Record
(519-163-3)
2009 SEC Championship Meet
FINISH: 2nd
POINTS: 626 points
Last Time Out AT NCAAs (2008)
FINISH: 8th
POINTS: 210 points
RECAP: The men's program has competed in 39 NCAA Championship meets, winning back-to-back team titles in 1983 and 1984, while finishing amongst the nation's top-10 a total of 26 times, including 17 years in a row from 1978-94.
Florida rallied for an eighth-place, 210-point finish, at the 2008 NCAA Championship meet in Federal Way, Wash. The eighth-place finish by the Gator men marked the ninth-straight year that head coach Gregg Troy has led his team to a top-10 finish at the NCAA Championships.
The Gators garnered 38 All-American honors (including honorable mention). The Florida men recorded eight top-eight finishes at the 2008 Championship meet, including six individual finishes. All three men who garnered the six top-eight finishes in 2008 return for the 2009 NCAA Meet in College Station, Texas, including junior Shaune Fraser, who placed fifth in the 200 free and 200 fly in 2008. Joining Fraser, current senior Bradley Ally took third in the 400 IM, while junior Clark Burckle finished fourth in the 200 breast and 400 IM. Senior Rex Tullius didn't record a top-eight finish in 2008, but Tullius was a consolation scorer and an All-American Honorable Mention candidate for the Gators at last year's national championship meet.
NCAA CENTRAL
LIVE STATS: http://www.aggieathletics.com/ncaa2009/swimming/stats.html
HOST: Texas A&M University
FACILITY: Student Rec Center Natatorium
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
Thursday, March 26 – 11:00 am – Preliminaries
1. 200-yard Freestyle Relay
2. 500-yard Freestyle
3. 200-yard Individual Medley
4. 50-yard Freestyle
20-minute intermission
6. 400-yard Medley Relay
5. One-meter Diving—Prelims* (1:30 p.m.)
Thursday, March 26 – 7:00 pm – Finals
1. 200-yard Freestyle Relay
2. 500-yard Freestyle
3. 200-yard Individual Medley
4. 50-yard Freestyle
5. One-meter Diving—Finals*
6. 400-yard Medley Relay
Friday, March 27 – 11:00 am – Preliminaries
7. 200-yard Medley Relay
8. 400-yard Individual Medley
9. 100-yard Butterfly
10. 200-yard Freestyle
11. 100-yard Breaststroke
12. 100-yard Backstroke
20-minute intermission
14. 800-yard Freestyle Relay—All but last three heats of timed finals
13. Three-meter Diving—Prelims* (1:30 p.m.)
Friday, March 27 – 7:00 pm – Finals
7. 200-yard Medley Relay
8. 400-yard Individual Medley
9. 100-yard Butterfly
10. 200-yard Freestyle
11. 100-yard Breaststroke
12. 100-yard Backstroke
13. Three-meter Diving—Finals*
14. 800-yard Freestyle Relay—Last three heats of timed finals
Saturday, March 28 – 11:00 am – Preliminaries
16. 200-yard Backstroke
17. 100-yard Freestyle
18. 200-yard Breaststroke
19. 200-yard Butterfly
20-minute intermission
21. 400-yard Freestyle Relay
20. Platform Diving—Prelims* (1:30 p.m.)
15. 1,650-yard Freestyle—All but last heat of timed finals
Saturday, March 28 – 7:00 pm – Finals
15. 1,650-yard Freestyle—Last heat of timed finals
16. 200-yard Backstroke
17. 100-yard Freestyle
18. 200-yard Breaststroke
19. 200-yard Butterfly
20. Platform Diving—Finals*
21. 400-yard Freestyle Relay
FLORIDA NCAA PARTICIPANTS
1. Bradley Ally (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.)
2. Clark Burckle (Louisville, Ky.)
3. Ryan Crete (Sarasota, Fla.)
4. Brett Fraser (George Town, Cayman Islands)
5. Shaune Fraser (George Town, Cayman Islands)
6. Balazs Gercsak (Budapest, Hungary)
7. Roberto Gomez (Weston, Fla.)
8. Joey Pedraza (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.)
9. Omar Pinzon (Bogota, Colombia)
10. Jeff Raymond (Davie, Fla.)
11. Rex Tullius (Port Orange, Fla.)
-UF-
