Florida Stands in First Place Following Day Two of Georgia Tech Invite
Saturday, November 22, 2014 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Florida's No. 7-ranked men's swimming & diving team captured five individual titles and had two relay victories, while UF's No. 16 women's squad won three individual events and two relay wins as well on day two of the Georgia Tech Invitational.
UF's men currently stand in first place with 1,225 points, while the women rank first with a score of 878.
Individually, the Gator men were led by senior Eduardo Solaeche-Gomez, as he won the men's 100-yard breaststroke in an NCAA 'B' standard time of 53.67 seconds and he was a member of UF's first place 200-yard medley relay team. Junior Lindsey McKnight paced the women's team, as she won the 200-yard freestyle in an NCAA 'B' time of 1:45.79. In addition, McKnight was a member of both of the Gators first place relay squads.
The Gators are competing in this event for the first time since the 2011-12 season, when Florida's women won the meet and the Gator men finished runner-up. The three-day meet is being held in Atlanta, Ga. and is hosted by Georgia Tech in the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center.
TROY'S TALKING
On the Gators performances on day two…
“We were a little inconsistent in the morning, but we made a great turnaround at night. We really raced well across the board. I'm extremely proud of the depth in our 800 freestyle relays at the end of what was a very long day. It really showed a lot of character.” -- Head Coach Gregg Troy
RELAY MAGIC
UF won both men's and women's relay events on day two, beginning with the 200-yard medley relay. In the men's race senior Christian Homer, junior Corey Main, freshman Caeleb Dressel and Solaeche-Gomez placed first in a time of 1:26.03. On the women's side, juniors Sinead Russell, Natalie Hinds sophomore Alyssa Yambor-Maul and McKnight touched the pad first in 1:38.28.
In the final event of the evening, the 800-yard freestyle relay, UF's men (Dan Wallace, Mitch D'Arrigo, Pawel Werner, Corey Main) placed first in 6:24.27, while the Gator women (Sinead Russell, Lindsey McKnight, Ashlee Linn, Jessica Thielmann) won in a time of 7:09.92.
All four relay times were NCAA 'B' standard marks.
I BELIEVE I CAN FLY
Freshman Caeleb Dressel won second first individual event of the week, as he placed first in the 100-yard butterfly in an NCAA 'B' standard time of 46.60 seconds.
FREE TIME
Werner captured his first individual title of the Invite, as he placed first in the 200-yard freestyle in an NCAA 'B' standard time of 1:34.79.
BACK IT UP
Sophomore Jack Blyzinskyj and Russell notched victories in the men's and women's 100-yard backstroke races in an NCAA 'B' standard times of 47.49 and 52.89 seconds.
IM IN
Senior Dan Wallace and Thielmann helped the Gators sweep the individual medley events for the Invite, as they won the men's and women's 400-yard IM in an NCAA 'B' standard times of 3:44.12 and 4:09.64.
UP NEXT
The Gators are back in action tomorrow for the third and final day of the Georgia Tech Invitational at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Ga. Prelims begin at 10 a.m. and finals start at 5 p.m.
POSTSEASON FOCUS
In addition to competing in an NCAA Championships-style format this week, the Gators had three NCAA 'A' standard marks through two days of competition.
· Women's 200 FR (Russell, McKnight, Linn, Hinds – 1:28.94)
· Caeleb Dressel (50 Free – 19.31)
· Dan Wallace (500 Free – 4:14.53)
WHAT JUST HAPPENED
Click here for a complete day one recap.
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