Preview of Saturday's Florida vs. FAU Dual Meet
Friday, January 14, 2011 | Women's Swimming & Diving
WHO: No. 5/6 Florida vs. Florida Atlantic
WHAT: Swimming and Diving Dual Meet
WHEN: Saturday, January 15: Diving at 10:30 a.m. ET; Swimming at 1 p.m. ET. Doors open at 9:30 a.m.
WHERE: Stephen C. O'Connell Center Natatorium, Gainesville, Fla. (Located between Gates 2 & 3)
WHO: No. 5 Florida, No. 7 Southern California, No. 9 North Carolina, No. 13 Michigan, No. 21 Purdue
WHAT: SMU Swim Classic
WHEN: Friday and Saturday, Jan. 14 and 15, 8:30 p.m. ET
WHERE: Perkins Natatorium, Dallas, Texas
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Following a sweep of Georgia Tech on Jan. 7, the No. 5 University of Florida men's swimming and diving team and No. 6 women's squad return to the pool Saturday for their annual dual meet against Florida Atlantic at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center Natatorium. Doors open at 9:30 a.m., with diving beginning at 10:30 a.m. and swimming commencing at 1 p.m. Admission is free.
On top of the FAU dual meet, the Gators will send eight of its top male swimmers and one male diver to Dallas Friday and Saturday for the annual Southern Methodist University Swim Classic, which pits the UF men against four other Top-25 teams along with host SMU. Meet time for both days is set for 8:30 p.m. ET.
The Gator men are 13-0 all-time against the Owls, while the women sport a 14-0 mark against FAU. The two schools met last in dual-meet competition on Jan. 16, 2010, when current sophomore Sebastien Rousseau (Cape Town, South Africa) captured an NCAA provisional mark in the men's 200-yard butterfly to help lead the Gators to a 159-118 win in Gainesville. Under the leadership of then-senior Liz Kemp, who captured the 1,000-yard free, several younger Gators stepped it up for the UF women, who defeated the Owls, 163-122.
This is the third consecutive year Florida has sent its top men to Dallas for the Classic, with the Gators finishing second in 2009 and fourth in 2010. Last year, UF turned in a total of 13 NCAA qualifying marks and several season-best swims, finishing with 286 points overall in the two-day invitational. The University of Michigan took home the 2010 SMU Classic team title (307.5), Swim MAC Carolina placed second (289) and host SMU finished third (287.5). Throughout the meet, the Gators faced competition from several internationally renowned athletes, including Olympic gold medalist Cullen Jones, who represented Swim MAC Carolina.
The last time the Orange and Blue competed was Jan. 7, when led by multiple NCAA qualifying times, the Gator men's and women's swimming and diving teams began the 2011 spring dual-meet schedule by sweeping Georgia Tech at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center Natatorium. The Gator women (3-3, 0-1 SEC) defeated Georgia Tech, 169-106, while the Gator men (3-2, 2-0 SEC) defeated the Yellow Jackets, 164.5-128.5.
FAU enters the meet having just hosted the FAU Invitational, where they came up short against visiting schools Brown, Pennsylvania, SEC-opponent LSU and Purdue. The men's team is anchored by reigning Sun Belt Conference Male Swimmer of the Week Mikolaj Czarnecki, who swam a season-best time in the 100-yard butterfly this past weekend. The women's team is piloted by Eszter Bucz, who has broke two schools records this season along with swimming three NCAA qualifying times.
The two teams have already met twice this season at invitational, beginning with the first-ever All-Florida Invitational, which served as the season opener for both squads. The Gators won their host invite Oct. 1-3 on both the men's and women's side, while FAU's men took third and the Owl women placed fifth. The two squads competed against each other again on the weekend of Nov. 19-21, 2010, when both traveled to Atlanta, Ga., for the annual Georgia Tech Fall Invitational. The Gator men took second with 1,121 points, while the UF women finished third with 939 points. The Owl men placed seventh in the event, while the FAU women finished 10th at the meet.
The Gator men currently hold the fastest SEC times in the 200-yard freestyle (1:34.70), 1,000 free (9:00.48), 200-yard individual medley (1:45.52), 400 IM (3:45.21) and 800-yard freestyle relay (6:31.74). All five times are in the top 10 nationally, while senior captain Conor Dwyer's (Winnetka, Ill.) times in the 1,000 free and 400 IM rank as the fastest in the NCAA this season. The men are led by Dwyer, who on Tuesday became the only swimmer in SEC history to be named SEC Male Swimmer of the Week four times in the same season. On Nov. 3, the reigning 2010 NCAA and SEC Male Swimmer of the Year was named CollegeSwimming.com's Counsilman-Hunsaker National Collegiate Male Swimmer of the Week for the second time in his career.
The Gator women presently own the fastest SEC times in the 200-yard backstroke (1:54.27) and 400 IM (4:06.84), as well as having the highest scores in the one meter and platform diving competitions. Along with the Gators' top times in the 50 free (22.41), 1,650 free (16:10.41) and 800 free relay (7:11.99), both the 200 back and 400 IM are in the top 10 nationally. The women are anchored by freshman swimmer Elizabeth Beisel (North Kingstown, R.I.), who on Nov. 23, 2010, became the first female freshman in SEC history to be named SEC Female Swimmer of the Week three times in the same season. Two weeks earlier on Nov. 10, the 2010-11 U.S. National Team member was named CollegeSwimming.com's Counsilman-Hunsaker National Collegiate Female Swimmer of the Week for the first time in her career.
Senior Monica Dodson (Franklin, Ind.) has anchored the diving squads, being awarded SEC Female Diver of the Week twice this season, including this past Tuesday. Dodson set the school record in the women's three-meter diving competition against Virginia on Oct. 11 with a score of 362.11. The lone senior on the women's swimming and diving team has already eight events this season (two on the one-meter boards, four on the three-meter boards and two platform competitions).
A preview of the meet is available by viewing the meet notes. Gator fans are also encouraged to follow the swimming and diving program via Twitter or Facebook.
