Florida Sends 12 Women to Compete at the 2013 NCAA Championships
Wednesday, March 20, 2013 | Women's Swimming & Diving
The University of Florida women's swimming and diving team will compete in the 2013 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships beginning Thurs., March 21 and ending Sat., March 23 in Indianapolis, Ind. at the IU Natatorium. The Gators had 12 women selected to compete this weekend, five of which are returners from last year's meet.
Last year Florida finished 10th overall after scoring 160 points total. The top 10 finish solidified the 11th-consecutive year that UF has finished in the top 10. Junior Elizabeth Beisel (North Kingstown, R.I.) secured her first individual title as she won the 200 back. The Gators accumulated 27 All-America honors last season, and the swimmers returning accounted for 13 of those.
Of the schools this season, Florida ranks fourth with the most swimmers selected behind Georgia (17), Minnesota (14) and Texas A&M (13). The Gators are looking for their fourth NCAA Championship, most recently winning the women's title in 2010 under current head coach Gregg Troy.
The group of 12 includes Beisel, senior Jamie Bohunicky (Gainesville, Fla.), sophomore Natasha Fung (Edmonton, Canada), freshman Natalie Hinds (Midland, Texas), freshman Ashlee Linn (Southfield, Mich.), junior Hilda Luthersdottir (Harfnarfjordur, Iceland), junior Alicia Mathieu (Marlborough, Conn.), freshman Lindsey McKnight (Coral Springs, Fla.), sophomore Rebecca Rainer (Richmond, Va.), freshman Sinead Russell (Burlington, Ontario), freshman Jessica Thielmann (Newcastle, England) and junior Ellese Zalewski (Melbourne, Australia).
Coming into the meet Florida holds 12 top-8 times in the country. On top of that, Beisel has the nation's best time in the 400 IM that she set at the 2013 SEC Championships. She was awarded the Commissioner's Trophy at the SEC Championships for finishing as the high point winner for the women. The Gators also bring in a group of talented freshman, with Hinds winning the SEC title in the 100 fly. She was named SEC Female Freshman of the Year for her performance at the meet.
They will have six fresh faces at the NCAA meet this season, with four of the newcomers being freshmen. Zalewski did not compete at the NCAA Championship last season due to conflicts with the Australian Olympic Trials, but is also a returning All-American for the Gators.
The women's squad is coming off of a third place finish at the 2013 SEC Championships in College Station, Texas, where they won three individual event titles and 10 women earned All-SEC honors.
ESPN3 will have a live stream of Friday and Saturday's finals beginning at 7 p.m. ET. Then ESPNU will air tape delayed coverage of the meet on Wed., March 27 at 8 p.m. ET.
For all Championship information please click here.
Gator fans are encouraged to follow the swimming and diving program viaTwitter orFacebook. For all of the latest information on Florida swimming, please log on towww.Gatorzone.com.
Schedule of Events
Prelims will begin at 11 a.m. ET and 7 p.m. ET each day
Thursday, March 21
200-yard Freestyle Relay
500-yard Freestyle
200-yard Individual Medley
50-yard Freestyle
One-meter Diving
400-yard Medley Relay
Friday, March 22
200-yard Medley Relay
400-yard Individual Medley
100-yard Butterfly
200-yard Freestyle
100-yard Breaststroke
100-yard Backstroke
Three-meter Diving
800-yard Freestyle Relay
Saturday, March 23
1,650-yard Freestyle—Last heat of time finals
200-yard Backstroke
100-yard Freestyle
200-yard Breaststroke
200-yard Butterfly
Platform Diving—Finals*
400-yard Freestyle Relay
