All-American Sebastien Rousseau Takes Ninth in 200 Fly at 44th-Annual Santa Clara International Gran
Tuesday, June 21, 2011 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Santa Clara, Calif. – Florida sophomore swimmer Elizabeth Beisel (North Kingstown, R.I.) made the A finals of three separate events and senior Sarah Bateman (Orlando, Fla.) swam two top-10 times in school history this past Thursday though Sunday at the 44th-annual Santa Clara International Grand Prix at the George F. Haines International Swim Center. A total of 19 past, present and future Gators competed in the final stop for USA Swimming's 2010-11 seven-meet Grand Prix Series, marking the final tuneup for the 2011 FINA World Championships later this summer in Shanghai.
Beisel, the 2011 SEC Freshman Female Swimmer of the Year, took second in the A finals of the 400-meter freestyle (4:08.57), seventh in the 400-meter individual medley (4:44.74, 4:43.42 second-place prelim time) and eighth in the 200-meter backstroke (2:13.23). The U.S. National Team member's 400 free time ranks third in school history, while her second-place B finals finish (11th overall) of 2:31.87 in the 200-yard breaststroke is now third all-time at Florida.
Bateman, a 2011 All-American in the 50-yard freestyle, swam the fifth-fastest 50-meter freestyle in school history with a third-place C finals time of 26.04 (21st overall). Earlier in the weekend, the 2008 Olympian for Iceland finished fifth in the B finals (14th overall) of the 100-meter butterfly, with her prelim time of 1:00.83 ranking eighth all-time at Florida.
Junior Sebastien Rousseau (Cape Town, South Africa) had the most success of current UF male swimmers, finishing ninth in the A finals of the 200 fly with a time of 2:02.91 (2:02.19 prelim). The 2008 Olympian for South Africa also finished sixth in the B finals (15th overall) of the 200 IM (2:07.12).
Other current Gators making the B or C finals included junior Jamie Bohunicky (Gainesville, Fla.) in the women's 200 free (2:02.04 – 22nd overall) and 200 fly (2:14.78 – 13th overall), senior Jeffrey Raymond (Davie, Fla.) in the men's 200 free (1:53.80 – 25th overall) and 50 free (24.02 – 25th overall) and sophomore Karl Wolk (Calgary, Canada) in the 200 fly (2:05.09 – 16th overall).
Former Gators Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) and Conor Dwyer (Winnetka, Ill.) also had impressive meets. Lochte finished second in the men's 200 (1:58.99) and 400 IM (4:17.76), 100 back (55.22) and eighth in the 100 free (50.63) and 100 fly (54.55). Dwyer took third in the 200 IM (3:57.25), 10th in the 400 free (3:57.23), 11th in the 200 free (1:50.71) and 200 IM (2:15.93) and 16th in the 100 free (51.31).
Other former Gators having solid meets included Shaune Fraser (George Town, Cayman Islands) and Stephanie Proud (Durham, England). Fraser took placed sixth in the B finals of the men's 200 fly (2:04.92) and seventh in the B finals of the 200 free (1:52.22), while Proud too fourth in the B finals of the women's 200 back (2:14.67) and fourth in the C finals of the 100 back (1:03.28).
