2010 NCAA Championships: Day Two Prelims
Friday, March 19, 2010 | Women's Swimming & Diving
On the second day of NCAA competition, Gators Teresa Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa.) and Gemma Spofforth (West Sussex, England) each qualified as the second-place seed in their respective events, Crippen in the 400 IM and Spofforth in the 100-yard back.
The defending national champion in the 100 back, Spofforth will look to three-peat in the race in evening finals after touching in at 52.04 in the final preliminary race of the afternoon. Spofforth would become the first Gator to win three consecutive 100 back titles, and would join Sue Walsh (UNC), Betsy Mitchell (Texas), Lea Loveless (Stanford) and Natalie Coughlin (California) as winners of three straight in the event at NCAAs.
In addition to Crippen, the 2010 400 IM SEC Champion, and Spofforth, sophomores Melania Costa-Schmid (Palma de Mallorca, Spain), Shara Stafford (Topeka, Kan.) and Jemma Lowe (Hartlepool, England) will return to finals individually for the Gators.
Costa-Schmid turned in a career-best mark in the 200-yard freestyle (1:45.45) to clock a 13th place finish, while Stafford will return as UF's top qualifier in the event in 10th. Lowe will return Friday evening as the top Gator qualifier in the 100-yard butterfly after turning in a 52.61 preliminary swim.
Florida's 200-yard medley relay, composed of Spofforth, sophomore Lindsay Rogers (Fishers, Ind.), Lowe and sophomore Sarah Bateman (Orlando, Fla.) will additionally take to the pool Friday evening as the third-place seed heading into finals. The quartet clocked a 1:37.68, the fifth-fastest time in UF history, in prelims, led by Spofforth's 24.03 leadoff backstroke split, the fastest in the 21-team relay field.
In preliminaries of the women's three-meter springboard, Gators Kara Salamone (Cooper City, Fla.) and Monica Dodson (Franklin, Ind.) took fifth and 37th, respectively. Salamone will take to the water in finals Friday evening after posting a 338.85 in prelims. Finals from the Boilermaker Aquatic Center on the Purdue campus, including timed finals of the 800-yard free relay, will kick off Friday evening at 7 p.m. (ET).
FRIDAY PRELIMINARY RESULTS
F – Florida record
* – Career best
200-yard medley relay
3. 1:37.68 (Spofforth, Rogers, Lowe, Bateman) – finals qualifier
400-yard individual medley
2. Teresa Crippen: 4:05.72 – finals qualifier
35. Kirsten Smith: 4:15.71
36. Corinne Showalter: 4:16.06
100-yard butterfly
11. Jemma Lowe: 52.61 – consolation qualifier
34. Sarah Bateman: 53.90
200-yard freestyle
10. Shara Stafford: 1:45.27 – consolation qualifier
13. Melania Costa-Schmid: 1:45.45 – consolation qualifier *
33. Jamie Bohunicky: 1:47.48
37. Liz Kemp: 1:47.63
100-yard breaststroke
41. Lindsay Rogers: 1:02.69
100-yard backstroke
2. Gemma Spofforth: 52.04 – finals qualifier
Three-meter diving
5. Kara Salamone: 338.85 – finals qualifier
37. Monica Dodson: 257.40
-UF-
