Florida Hosts Senior Day vs. SEC Rival Tennessee
Friday, January 28, 2011 | Women's Swimming & Diving
WHO: No. 5/8 Florida vs. No. 7/10 Tennessee
WHAT: Florida's Senior Day/Swimming and Diving Dual Meet
WHEN: Saturday, January 29: Diving at 10 a.m. ET; Swimming at Noon. Doors open at 9 a.m.
WHERE: Stephen C. O'Connell Center Natatorium, Gainesville, Fla. (Located between Gates 2 & 3)
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The No. 5 University of Florida men's swimming and diving team and No. 8 women's squad return to the pool Saturday for the Gators' annual Senior Day against Tennessee at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center Natatorium. Doors open at 9 a.m., with diving beginning at 10 a.m. The Senior Day ceremony is at 11:30 a.m., with the dual meet starting at noon. Admission is free.
The Gator women are 24-0 all-time against the Lady Vols, with the men owning a 17-20 all-time mark against Tennessee. The two schools last met in dual-meet competition on Jan. 29, 2010, when UF concluded the 2009-10 dual meet schedule with wins over ranked conference opponent Tennessee at the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center in Knoxville Friday. In separate duals, Florida's women took down the Vols, 170-130, in an afternoon match-up, while the men won a 164-133 decision in the evening, serving the UT men's team its first loss in the two-year history of the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center. UF's women's team won nine of the 16 individual events, but both relay victories, the 200-yard medley and 400-yard free relays, belonged to the Lady Vols. In men's swimming action, the UF men topped Tennessee by way of eight individual event victories. The Vols took first-place points in both the 200-yard medley and 200-yard freestyle relays, but UF's depth prevailed.
The last time the Orange and Blue competed was Jan. 21, when the Gators swum 24 NCAA qualifying times but were edged in both men's and women's competition by Auburn at the James E. Martin Aquatics Center in Auburn, Ala. The No. 5 men's team (4-3, 2-1 SEC) fell to the No. 3 Tigers, 167-133, while the No. 8 women's squad (4-4, 0-2 SEC) suffered a 165-135 defeat to No. 5 Auburn. The loss for the men was the first in SEC competition since losing at Auburn on Jan. 24, 2009, while the women's team lost to the Tigers for the first time since Jan. 19, 2007.
Tennessee enters the meet with the No. 10 women (5-1, 2-1 SEC) coming off their first loss of the season against No. 2 Georgia, 177-123. Despite the loss, the Lady Vols broke three AJIAC pool records, while freshman Lindsay Gendron was named the National Swimmer of the Week and SEC Female Freshman of the Week. Junior Gabrielle Trudeau was named SEC Female Diver of the Week and sophomore Kelsey Floyd was named SEC Female Swimmers of the Week.
On the men's side, the No. 7 Vols enter with an impressive 168-132 win over No. 11 Georgia this past weekend. For his efforts, senior diver Michael Wright was named SEC Male Diver of the Week.
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 earlier this month 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). 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 earlier this month. 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.
