2010 SECs: Day 2 Morning Session
Thursday, February 18, 2010 | Men's Swimming & Diving
A total of 25 Florida swimmers and divers will return to finals Thursday evening to represent the Gators on the second day of the 2010 SEC Championships at Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens. With both UF teams tied for first entering the second evening of finals swimming and diving, Florida looks to continue the strong swimming Thursday night in order to maintain its top standing.
A stellar morning of preliminary swims highlighted the morning session, with every Gator swimmer securing season-best times in their respective events. Twelve UF swimmers turned in career-best marks, and a couple of swims came close to Florida records, particularly in the 50 free and the Gators' top finishers in each, Brett Fraser (George Town, Grand Cayman) and Shara Stafford (Topeka, Kan.) for the women.
The Gators return all four women who swam prelims of the 50 free, while the men return two of the four swimmers, with the possibility of three, as junior Matt Norton (Port Orange, Fla.) solidified his spot as the first alternate.
In one of the deepest races for the Gators in the 200-yard IM, seniors Omar Pinzon (Bogota, Colombia) and Shaune Fraser (George Town, Grand Cayman) placed first and second, respectively, in prelims, while freshman Sebastien Rousseau (Cape Town, South Africa) also qualified for the eighth-place seed in the championship heat. Sophomore Brian Howell (Cincinnati, Ohio) will represent UF in 200 IM consolations as the 13th seed.
Senior Gemma Spofforth (West Sussex, England) will be UF's sole championship swimmer in the women's 200-yard IM and sophomore Kirsten Smith (Cary, N.C.) will swim the consolation heat.
In the 500 free, Florida's women return four swimmers, two in the championship heat and two in the consolation final, with sophomore Melani Costa-Schmid (Palma de Mallorca, Spain) clocking the fastest time for Florida (4:44.43) to enter finals as the fifth seed. In the men's distance race, junior Conor Dwyer (Winnetka, Ill.) secured a second-place spot as the top Gator after swimming the third-fastest 500 free in the country in morning prelims. Florida will return two finals swimmers and three consolation finalists in the men's 500 free.
On the men's one-meter springboard, the Gators return the sophomore duo of Colin Bell (Coral Springs, Fla.) and Anthony Lewark (Davie, Fla.), who qualified in the sixth and seventh spots, respectively, Bell with a season and career-best 392.40.
The Florida women placed both divers, one-meter SEC Champion Kara Salamone (Cooper City, Fla.) and junior Monica Dodson (Franklin, Ind.), in the championship final of the three-meter springboard in seventh and eighth place, respectively.
Finals of the men's and women's diving events, the 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free and 200-yard freestyle relays will kick off at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Florida Prelims Finishers
A NCAA Automatic Qualifying Mark
^ Season-Best Mark
* Career-Best Mark
$ SEC Record
F Florida Record
Women's 500-yard freestyle
5. Melani Costa-Schmid, 4:44.43 ^* - finals qualifier
8. Jamie Bohunicky, 4:44.86 ^* - finals qualifier
11. Corinne Showalter, 4:46.13 ^* - consolation qualifier
15. Eva Lehtonen, 4:47.97 ^* - consolation qualifier
18. Angelina Ballatore, 4:50.50 ^* - second alternate
20. Sarah Peterson, 4:51.73 ^*
Men's 500-yard freestyle
2. Conor Dwyer, 4:18.50 ^* - finals qualifier
4. Balazs Gercsak, 4:20.86 ^ - finals qualifier
9. Jeff Raymond, 4:21.97 ^ - consolation qualifier
10. Joey Pedraza, 4:22.60 ^ - consolation qualifier
11. Roland Rudolf, 4:23.19 ^ - consolation qualifier
17. Ryan Crete, 4:26.13 ^ - first alternate
Women's 200-yard IM
5. Gemma Spofforth, 1:58.55 ^ - finals qualifier
10. Kirsten Smith, 2:00.96 ^ - consolation qualifier
17. Lily Ramirez, 2:01.96 ^* - first alternate
20. Jemma Lowe, 2:02.83 ^
27. Lindsey Rogers, 2:04.10 ^
Exhibition. Sarra Lajnef, 2:05.03 ^*
Exhibition. Maida Turnadzic, 2:05.40 ^
Men's 200-yard IM
1. Omar Pinzon, 1:44.56 ^ - finals qualifier
2. Shaune Fraser, 1:44.95 ^ - finals qualifier
8. Sebastien Rousseau, 1:45.53 ^* - finals qualifier
13. Brian Howell, 1:47.21 ^ - consolation qualifier
20. Robby Kennedy, 1:49.76 ^
Exhibition. Manny Rabelo, 1:53.31 ^*
Women's 50-yard free
2. Shara Stafford, 22.32 ^* - finals qualifier
6. Sarah Bateman, 22.52 ^ - finals qualifier
9. Stephanie Napier, 22.76 ^ - consolation qualifier
13. Elizabeth Kemp, 22.97 ^ - consolation qualifier
Men's 50-yard free
6. Brett Fraser, 19.70 ^* - finals qualifier
16. Roberto Gomez, 20.03 ^* - consolation qualifier
17. Matt Norton, 20.08 ^* - first alternate
27. Pholien Systermans, 20.38 ^*
Exhibition. Raul Martinez, 20.50 ^
Men's one-meter diving
6. Colin Bell, 329.40 ^* - finals qualifier
7. Anthony Lewark, 328.10 - finals qualifier
Women's three-meter diving
7. Kara Salamone, 325.60
8. Monica Dodson, 317.75
-UF-
