Gators Kick Off Competition at 2009 U.S. Open
Tuesday, August 4, 2009 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Just after competition closed at the 2009 FINA World Championships in Rome Sunday, another group of Gators started competition at the 2009 U.S. Open Tuesday at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Wash.
The five-day meet started with prelims of the men's and women's 200-meter butterfly and breaststroke races, as well as two distance freestyle races, the women's 800-meter free and men's 1500-meter free.
Rising sophomore Jeff Raymond (Davie, Fla.) started the day off for the Gators, finishing 22nd in the 200-meter fly, clocking a time of 2:01.69, qualifying for the C final in the event. Redshirt senior Eric Shrestha (Tallahassee, Fla.) joined Raymond in the event, finishing 45th (2:04.62).
In the women's 200-meter breast, sophomore Carly Pike (Boca Raton, Fla.) placed 45th (2:39.32), while sophomore Robby Kennedy (Ft. Myers, Fla.) swam a 2:18.18 in the men's event, finishing 18th and qualifying for the C evening session.
In finals Tuesday evening, Raymond turned around to swim an even faster 2:01.15 in the 200 fly to place 17th overall, while Kennedy clocked 2:17.46, a second faster than his prelims mark, to finish 17th in finals of the 200-meter breast.
Florida swimming fans can follow the 2009 U.S. Open results on Omega Timing here. A recap and results from Florida athletes can be found on www.GatorZone.com and www.swimnetwork.com. Preliminaries will take place at noon (ET) each day of competition, while finals commence at 9 p.m. (ET).
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