Gators to Host Fourth Annual Pinch A Penny All-Florida Invitational
Thursday, September 26, 2013 | Men's Swimming & Diving
The University of Florida Swimming and Diving teams will open the 2013-14 season with the fourth annual three-day Pinch A Penny All-Florida Invitational beginning Friday at the O'Connell Center.
The meet will feature six programs from the state of Florida: Florida State, Miami, Florida Gulf Coast, Florida Southern, North Florida and Nova Southeastern.
The event will consist of morning preliminary sessions each day and finals sessions each evening. Diving will take place approximately one hour after the morning sessions on Friday and Saturday. Friday's sessions begin at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. Both Saturday and Sunday sessions begin at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Sound Bites: “This meet is unique because you have a lot of the Florida swimmers and divers together. There are a lot of athletes that were recruited by all of the schools, so they all know one another. It's also unique because it's a different format. No matter how well we swim, only three people can swim in the finals at night. We may be in a situation where we have six or seven people that could have scored, but only the first three can swim at night. It's designed that way so early in the season the athletes have to perform well in prelims.”- Head Coach Gregg Troy
Tallying up Honors: Both the men's and women's teams placed sixth at the 2013 NCAA Championships. Senior Elizabeth Beisel (North Kingstown, R.I.) captured the 400 individual medley (4:00.49) NCAA Championship, the second national title of her career. The men's 800 freestyle relay group of redshirt-senior Sebastien Rousseau (Cape Town, South Africa), sophomore Pawel Werner (Wroclaw, Poland), senior Marcin Cieslak (Warsaw, Poland) and junior Dan Wallace (North Berwick, Scotland) brought home the NCAA title in a new school record time of 6:13.27. The Gator men return 11 of 13 All-Americans while the women bring back 9 of 11 All-Americans.
The Streak is Over: The 2013 men's team captured the program's 34th SEC Championship and first team title in 20 seasons, ending Auburn's run of 16 consecutive SEC Championships. The Gators tallied 1408 points compared to second place Auburn's 1196.
Taking Care of Business: Twenty-seven Gators were named to the 2013 SEC Academic Honor Roll. Beisel was selected to the 2013 Capital One Academic At-Large First Team, joining Tracy Caulkins as the only two female Gators to be named to the first team twice. Senior Brad deBorde (Longwood, Fla.) was named a 2013 CSCAA Division I Scholar All-American. Departing senior Cameron Martin was a 2013 winner of the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship and an Academic All-American.
Gators Leave Their Mark at Worlds: Four Gator swimmers competed at the 2013 FINA World Championships in Barcelona, Spain. Beisel finished third in the 400 IM with a blistering time of 4:31.69, which was .52 off of her career best time from the 2012 Olympic Games. Wallace set the Scottish record in the 400 IM with a seventh-place swim of 4:13.72.
Sophomore Sinead Russell (Burlington, Ontario, Canada) and senior Hilda Luthersdottir (Hafnarfjordur, Iceland) earned their highest career international finishes in the 200 backstroke and 50 breaststroke, respectively. Russell finished seventh in the 200 back and ninth in the 100 back. Luthersdottir competed in a pair of semifinal swims for the first time in her career and lowered her national records in the breast events.
Representing the Stars and Stripes: Ten Florida swimmers competed at the 2013 Phillips 66 US National Championships over the summer. Beisel along with sophomore Natalie Hinds(Midland, Texas), sophomore Ashlee Linn (Sarasota, Fla.) and senior Alicia Mathieu (Marlborough, Conn.) represented the Gator women at the meet. On the men's side, deBorde, junior Matt Elliott (Peoria, Ill.), sophomore Arthur Frayler (Fort Washington, Pa.), junior Carlos Omana (Miami, Fla.) and senior Connor Signorin (East Windsor, N.J.) competed at the meet.
Long Course Type of Summer: Twenty-one University of Florida swimmers competed at the US Open Championships in Irvine, Calif. The Gators enjoyed multiple top-16 finishes in a field comprised of American and international athletes competing for club teams. Rousseau swept all four events that he competed in, winning the Male High Point of the meet for his cumulative performance.
All Florida Invite All-Time: Both the Gators men's and women's teams have won the first three installments of the event. Last season, the men totaled 1273 points to second place FSU's 919, and the women totaled 1141.5 points to second place FSU's 763.5.
Schedule of Events:
| Female Event # | Distance | Male Event # | Distance |
| Friday |
| ||
| 1** | 200 Free Relay | 2** | 200 Free Relay |
| 3 | 500 Free | 4 | 500 Free |
| 5 | 200 IM | 6 | 200 IM |
| 7 | 50 Free | 8 | 50 Free |
| 9* | 1 Meter Diving | 10* | 3 Meter Diving |
| 11** | 400 Medley Relay | 12** | 400 Medley Relay |
| Saturday |
| ||
| 13** | 200 Medley Relay | 14** | 200 Medley Relay |
| 15 | 400 IM | 16 | 400 IM |
| 17 | 100 Fly | 18 | 100 Fly |
| 19 | 200 Free | 20 | 200 Free |
| 21 | 100 Breast | 22 | 100 Breast |
| 23 | 100 Back | 24 | 100 Back |
| 25* | 3 Meter Diving | 26* | 1 Meter Diving |
| 27** | 800 Free Relay | 28** | 800 Free Relay |
| Sunday |
| ||
| 29*** | 1,650 Free | 30*** | 1,650 Free |
| 31 | 200 Back | 32 | 200 Back |
| 33 | 100 Free | 34 | 100 Free |
| 35 | 200 Breast | 36 | 200 Breast |
| 37 | 200 Fly | 38 | 200 Fly |
| 39** | 400 Free Relay | 40** | 400 Free Relay |
Fan Information: Parking is lifted on Friday in the North Lot of the O'Connell Center. Florida Swim Network will broadcast the final sessions on all three days. Recaps and results will be available at the conclusion of each evening session.
Support Our Troops: The Gators will be collecting new and unused items to be sent to deployed US Troops in all branches of the service. The first 250 fans that donate will receive a Pinch A Penny All Florida Invitational military appreciation shirt. The list of new and unused items (unless noted) is listed below.
Food/Beverage:
· Protein powder & Protein bars
· Coffee (ground or whole, instant or drip)
· Coffee filters (standard size)
· Coffee creamer (flavored is great, too)
· Beef Jerky & Slim Jims
· Nuts, Sunflower Seeds and Pumpkin Seeds (salted)
· Gum or Hard Candy (Individually wrapped)
· Tissues (pocket-size)
Entertainment:
· iTunes® Gift Cards (small denominations, to purchase music, books, videos, etc.)
· Used DVD Movies: Recent romantic and comedy releases preferred. No war/violent themes, please!
· Xbox Games, PSP, PS2 & PS3 Games (used are okay as long as recent and in good condition)
· Board Games (regular and travel size)
For more information on Give 2 The Troops, please visit Give2theTroops.org.
Follow the Gators: For all the latest on Florida swimming and diving, stay tuned to GatorZone.com and follow the Gator on Facebook and Twitter @GatorZoneSwimDv.
