Florida Prepares for 2010 SEC Championship Meet
Monday, February 15, 2010 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Florida head coach Gregg Troy and the men's and women's swimming and diving programs hit the road to Athens, Ga., for the 2010 SEC Championship meet Monday. UF's women will be competing to defend their 2009 SEC Title, and the men will be looking for their first league title since 1993. The four-day meet, hosted by the University of Georgia, runs Feb. 17-20 (Wed-Sat) at UGA's Gabrielsen Natatorium at the Ramsey Center. Prelims start each morning at 10 a.m., while finals will kick off at 6 p.m. each evening. For a complete, detailed daily schedule, please see below.
“Our preparation throughout this whole season has been really, really good,” Troy said. “We have an outstanding group of swimmers this year. We're heading into this meet looking for a great week of swimming – the preparation is there, now we have to race.”
Gator fans can follow all the action from Athens at SEC Championship Central here. A recap of morning preliminaries can be found on www.GatorZone.com following each session, as well as final results and a recap after evening competition.
Florida Men's Preview
With an impressive dual meet season under its belt, the Florida men's team looks to make a run at this year's SEC meet. The Gators emerged from dual competition unscathed, downing SEC opponents Georgia, LSU, Auburn and Tennessee in dual meet action. After finishing second at the 2009 SEC Championship meet to Auburn for the eighth consecutive season, the Gators are aiming for their first SEC title in Athens since 1993. With UF's returning talent and leadership, there may be no better year. Florida returns defending SEC and NCAA 200 free Champion Shaune Fraser, who also defends and owns the NCAA 200 fly race and record. While two of the Gators' three 2009 SEC Champions graduated (Bradley Ally and Rex Tullius), the Gators will look to senior Omar Pinzon, junior transfer Conor Dwyer and junior Brett Fraser to step up and fill the voids in the IM, freestyle and backstroke events, as they've done all season.
Florida Women's Preview
After taking the 2009 SEC Championship title, UF's 17th overall and first since 2002, the Gators will be looking for their second consecutive Championship in Athens. Should the Gators repeat, the back-to-back titles would be Florida's first since the 1995 and 1996 SEC Championships. Perhaps the biggest story line on the women's side is returning SEC and NCAA Champion Gemma Spofforth in the 100 and 200 back races. Spofforth holds the NCAA record in the 200 back, was named the 2009 SEC Female Swimmer of the Year and also tied for the high-point winner with Auburn's Ava Ohlgren. The duo each contributed 57 points toward their team's total at last year's SECs. Additionally, UF returns loaded with 2009 100 & 200
fly Champion Jemma Lowe returning, as well as sophomore Teresa Crippen, who played a part in UF's 1-2-3 200 backstroke sweeps at the 2009 SEC and NCAA Championships. Florida's enters SECs with a wealth of freshman talent and returns all components of its two defending SEC Champion/Record-breaking relays.
Gabrielsen Natatorium
This will be the third time Georgia has hosted the SEC Championships since the opening of Gabrielsen Natatorium in 1995. Georgia previously hosted the event in 1997 and 2004. Gabrielsen Natatorium also has been the site of the 1999 and 2006 NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships and the 2002 NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships. U.S. Diving used Gabrielsen Natatorium as the site of the 1997 World Championship Team Trials.
Head Coach Gregg Troy SEC Preview Quotes
Thoughts heading into the SEC Championships:
“Our preparation throughout this whole season has been really, really good. We have an outstanding group of swimmers this year. We're heading into this meet looking for a great week of swimming – the preparation is there, now we have to race.”
On the men having a perfect dual season and what that means for SECs:
“It's great to have an undefeated men's team and it's nice to know that we can match up with all the other teams in the league. On paper, with the race entries and times submitted, we're the third-best team right now. That means we have to make up some ground and swim well the whole way through the meet. One of the things we've done well this season is rise to the occasion and race when we need to. This week, we'll need to duplicate those efforts.”
On the women's team as the defending SEC Champions, how hard will it be to defend the title:
“On the women's side, we've got a tremendous challenge in front of us. Georgia is the best team in the country right now. Not only are they the best team in the country, they may be the best team ever. They are extremely deep and they're strong in every event. We have to have some tremendous swims this week, step up to the challenge and race.”
On who he expects to step up on the men's side with several of last year's SEC Champions graduated:
“Obviously we have Shaune Fraser returning, but we'll expect Omar Pinzon on Conor Dwyer to step up. They've both been good for us all year long and they should be solid contributors.”
On women who he expects to stand out:
“Gemma Spofforth is a defending SEC Champion, so she'll definitely be one of our good competitors. Shara Stafford and Teresa Crippen have both been good all year. One of the biggest points of emphasis will be that we have to get some good performances from our freshman swimmers like Jamie Bohunicky, Corinne Showalter and Eva Lehtonen.”
Day-by-Day Order of Events (Feb. 17-20)
Day 1: Wednesday, February 17
Events:
Prelims - 10:00 a.m., Finals - 6:00 p.m.
• 1-meter diving (w)
• 200 Medley Relay
• 3-meter diving (m)
• 800 Freestyle Relay
Day 2: Thursday, February 18
Events:
Prelims - 10:00 a.m., Finals - 6:00 p.m.
• 500 Freestyle
• 200 Individual Medley
• 50 Freestyle
• 1-meter diving (m), 5:30 p.m.
• 3-meter diving (w)
• 200 Freestyle Relay
Day 3: Friday, February 19
Events:
Prelims - 10:00 a.m., Finals - 6:00 p.m.
• 400 Individual Medley
• 100 Butterfly
• 200 Freestyle
• 100 Breastroke
• 100 Backstroke
• Platform diving (m)
• 400 Medley Relay
Day 4: Saturday, February 20
Events:
Prelims - 10:00 a.m., Finals - 6:00 p.m.
• 1650 Freestyle
• 200 Backstroke
• 100 Freestyle
• 200 Breastroke
• 200 Butterfly
• Platform diving (w)
• 400 Freestyle Relay
SEC Championship Television Coverage
Coverage of the 2010 Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Championships will be more extensive than ever due to the Southeastern Conference's television agreement with ESPN. ESPNU will air two 90 minute shows, the first for men's championship coverage and the second for women's. “SEC Weekly” on ESPNU, airing every Tuesday at 6:00p.m. ET, will also incorporate preview pieces, athlete profiles, and event recaps in their shows leading up to and after the championships. Below is a breakdown of the plan for television coverage.
Two 90 minute shows:
| SEC Men's Swimming and Diving Championship | |||
| Air Date | Day | Time | Network |
| 2/28/2010 | Sunday | 8:00p.m. ET | ESPNU |
| SEC Women's Swimming and Diving Championship | |||
| Air Date | Day | Time | Network |
| 3/2/2010 | Tuesday | 6:00p.m. ET | ESPNU |
-UF-
