Pair of Gator Swimmers in Marcin Cieslak and Matt Elliott Pick Up Weekly Honors
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 | Men's Swimming & Diving
A pair of Gator swimmers picked up weekly Southeastern Conference honors, the league office announced Tuesday evening. University of Florida sophomore Marcin Cieslak (Warsaw, Poland) is the Southeastern Conference Male Swimmer of the Week, and Matt Elliott (Peoria, Ill.) was honored as the SEC Male Freshman of the Week.
The announcement marked the second-consecutive honor of the season for Cieslak and the third of his career. For Elliott, it is the fifth time this season that he has taken home the title.
It is the third consecutive week that a Gator freshman has taken home the Male Freshman of the Week honor, and sixth time this season that a Florida freshman has been awarded the honor as Carlos Omana (Miami, Fla.) received the accolade last week.
In last Saturday's win against No. 20 Tennessee Cieslak collected a team-high two-individual events in the meeting against the Vols, touching the wall first in both the 100 fly (47.77) and 200 free (1:37.65). The sophomore's time in the 100 fly was a season-best performance, while each of his marks were NCAA “B” provisional cuts.
Elliott received his fifth conference honor after he was just one of two freshmen to capture an event victory in Saturday's meet when he won the 200 breast in 1:59.27. Elliott also followed his first-place finish in the 200 breast with a second-place finish in the 100 breast when he touched in 55.15 – just one hundredth of a second behind the first-place finisher (55.14).
His victory marked the sixth time in his freshman campaign that the Illinois native has captured the 200 breast title, and remains undefeated in the event on the year. It is also the sixth time that Elliott has claimed a top one-two finish in both races in a single meet. He has swept the top spot in both the 100 and 200 breast four times this season.
The Gators are on a one-and-a-half week hiatus until the Southeastern Conference Championships begin on Wednesday, Feb. 15 in Knoxville, Tenn., at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center. The four-day competition will end on Saturday, Feb. 18. Last year both Gator squads finished second at the conference championships, and enter the event as the highest SEC team in both College Swim Coaches of America polls.
Gator fans are encouraged to follow the swimming and diving program via Twitter @GatorZoneSwimDV and Facebook.
