Florida Gators
SEC Championships - Swimming - Day 2 Finals
Dwyer Breaks SEC Record on Second Night of 2011 SEC Swimming Championships
Friday, February 18, 2011 | Men's Swimming & Diving
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Senior Conor Dwyer (Winnetka, Ill.) broke the Southeastern Conference record in the men's 500-yard freestyle (4:11.36) and junior Sarah Bateman (Orlando, Fla.) became the school record holder in the women's 50 free Thursday night at the 2011 SEC Swimming Championships at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. The Florida women ended the day in first place with 291 points over second-place Auburn (286), while the second-place Gator men trail the first-place Tigers, 378-308.
“We're in the hunt on both sides,” head coach Gregg Troy said. “There are a few things we have to do. We made up a big deficit on the men's side, and I feel very confident in our ability to be successful the next two days.”
The night session included three SEC records, seven O'Connell Center pool records, two Florida school records and three UF automatic qualifying marks for the 2011 NCAA Championships.
The first of those automatic qualifiers came from Dwyer in the first finals event of the evening. The 2010-11 U.S. National Team member broke the pool, school and SEC record in the 500 free with a time of 4:11.36, bettering his own personal-best time that won him the 2010 NCAA title. The time is currently the fastest in the country this year.
In the women's 500 free, freshman Elizabeth Beisel (North Kingstown, R.I.) put her hand on the wall third with an automatic qualifying time of 4:37.74. The third-fastest time in the country this season puts Beisel second all-time at UF in the event.
The last automatic mark for Florida came from freshman Marcin Cieslak (Warsaw, Poland) in the men's 200-yard individual medley. Cieslak clocked in at 1:43.90 to finish second, with his time being the fastest by a freshman in the NCAA this season. The Poland native's time was also the third-quickest mark in the country this year, while ranking seventh in school history.
Florida's top scorer in the women's 200 IM was junior Shara Stafford (Topeka, Kan.), who took third with a NCAA “B” cut time of 1:57.20. The time tied for seventh in the NCAA this year, while being the fourth-fastest mark in school history in the event. Finishing first was Georgia's Morgan Scroggy, who broke the SEC record with a time of 1:54.58
Making his SEC finals debut, freshman Brad deBorde (Longwood, Fla.) brought home his first SEC medal with a third-place finish in the finals of the men's 50 free. deBorde's time of 19.64 was the third-fastest time in school history, the fastest time ever by a freshman at UF, and the ninth-quickest mark in the country this season (second-fastest by a freshman).
Up next was the women's 50 free, where Bateman tied the school record she broke earlier in the day by finishing in 22 seconds flat. The second-place time was also the second-fastest mark in the NCAA in 2010-11, trailing first-place Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace of Auburn, who finished first with a SEC-record and NCAA-best time of 21.46.
In the only relay competition of the day, the Florida male quartet of deBorde, Dwyer, sophomore Scott Sommer (Ocala, Fla.) and redshirt sophomore Marco Loughran took second in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a NCAA provisional time of 1:18.28, the sixth-fastest in UF history. The women's foursome of freshman Alana Pazevic (Mill Creek, Wash.), Bateman, Stafford and freshman Kaitlin Frehling (St. Petersburg, Fla.) finished fifth with a NCAA “B” cut time of 1:29.94, the sixth-best mark in school history.
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Team Scores Heading Into Day Three
MEN
| Rank | School | Points |
| 1 | Auburn | 378 |
| 2 | Florida | 308 |
| 3 | Tennessee | 263.5 |
| 4 | Georgia | 202 |
| 5 | Alabama | 129 |
| 6 | Kentucky | 125 |
| 7 | LSU | 116.5 |
| 8 | South Carolina | 94 |
WOMEN
| Rank | School | Points |
| 1 | Florida | 291 |
| 2 | Georgia | 286 |
| 3 | Auburn | 272 |
| 4 | LSU | 190.5 |
| 5 | Tennessee | 157 |
| 6 | South Carolina | 148 |
| 7 | Kentucky | 121 |
| 8 | Alabama | 108.5 |
| 9 | Arkansas | 100 |
| 10 | Vanderbilt | 46 |
SEC Records Set at Day Two Finals (3)
| Event | Name | School | Time |
| Men's 500-Yard Freestyle | Conor Dwyer | Florida | 4:11.36 |
| Women's 200-Yard Individual Medley | Morgan Scroggy | Georgia | 1:54.58 |
| Women's 50-Yard Freestyle | Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace | Auburn | 21.34 |
UF School Records Set at Day Two Finals (2)
| Event | Name | Time |
| Men's 500-Yard Freestyle | Conor Dwyer | 4:11.36 |
| Women's 50-Yard Freestyle | Sarah Bateman | 22.00 |
Stephen C. O'Connell Center Pool Records Set at Day Two Finals (7)
| Event | Name | School | Time |
| Men's 500-Yard Freestyle | Conor Dwyer | Florida | 4:11.36 |
| Women's 500-Yard Freestyle | Shannon Vreeland | Georgia | 4:36.28 |
| Women's 200-Yard Individual Medley | Morgan Scroggy | Georgia | 1:54.58 |
| Men's 50-Yard Freestyle | Adam Brown | Auburn | 19:05 |
| Women's 50-Yard Freestyle | Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace | Auburn | 21.34 |
| Men's 200-Yard Freestyle Relay | Brown, Marcelo, Manning, Krug | Auburn | 1:16.56 |
| Women's 200-Yard Freestyle Relay | Riordan, Norberg, Vanderpool-Wallace, Scott | Auburn | 1:28.25 |
2011 NCAA Automatic Qualifying Times by Florida (3)
| Event | Name | Time |
| Men's 500-Yard Freestyle | Conor Dwyer | 4:11.36 |
| Women's 500-Yard Freestyle | Elizabeth Beisel | 4:37.74 |
| Men's 200-Yard Individual Medley | Marcin Cieslak | 1:43.90 |
WINNING QUOTES
Men's 500 Free
Florida senior Conor Dwyer
“It's awesome in front of the whole crowd. It's nice to get a personal best and a school record. I'm happy with that time at this point.”
Women's 500 Free
Georgia freshman Shannon Vreeland
“It's more exciting than any feeling I've ever had. It's just great to see that you're a part of a family and see it come together at a really awesome meet.”
Men's 200 IM
Georgia senior Bill Cregar
“It means a lot. I tried really hard and it's a really good feeling when all the hard work pays off.”
Women's 200 IM
Georgia senior Morgan Scroggy
“It feels good, it's always nice to win for the team. I just wanted to keep a good tempo with my arms.”
Men's 50 Free
Auburn senior Adam Brown
“It's an awesome victory. We came here to try to win and that's what I did, but I still want to get faster. Right now, for my training, it's a good time.”
Women's 50 Free
Auburn junior Ayanna Vanderpool-Wallace
“It feels really great to be able to some in to SEC's and swim a time like that—I wasn't expecting it at all. I feel really rested, so I'll be ready for NCAA's.”
Men's 200 Freestyle Relay
Auburn freshman Chris Manning
“It's amazing. We got the momentum our way now and we're just not looking back from here.”
Women's 200 Freestyle Relay
Auburn junior Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace
“We just wanted to get in there and win that race and that's what we did. We all swam as fast as we could and won it.”
