Florida Gators
Buckeye Invitational
Gators Post 5 national Top Times to Open Buckeye Invite
Saturday, November 21, 2015 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Columbus, Ohio -- The University of Florida men's and women's swimming and diving teams got off to a fast start at this year's Buckeye Invitational after posting eight U.S. Olympic Trial-qualifying times, three NCAA 'A' cut standards, 16 NCAA 'B' cuts, and five national top times -- all of this coming in Day One competition at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion in Columbus, Ohio.
Both squads competed in a long-course (50-meter pool) format in the preliminary session, where the Gators took 4-of-6 events. Eighteen men and 19 women swam to season-best long-course times throughout the morning session.
In the 400-meter freestyle, six Gators posted US Olympic Trial-qualifying times. Amelia Maughan (4:14.20) and Austin Manganiello (3:57.05) led the Orange and Blue with respective wins on both ends. Jessica Thielmann (4:17.94), Jan Switkowski (3:57.91), Pawel Werner (3:57.91), and Andrew Brady (3:58.15) added to the mix.
Newcomer Alex Lebed kept the momentum going with a first-place showing in the 400-meter individual medley after touching the wall at the 2:03.68 mark -- a US Olympic Trial-qualifying time for the Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, native.
In the women's 400 IM, the Gators went 4-5-6 after gathering season-best times from Ashlee Linn (2:19.11), Sierra Kuhn (2:19.30), and Georgia-Mae Hohmann (2:19.30).
Sophomore Caeleb Dressel took the top time in the men's 50-meter freestyle, posting the Gators' final US Olympic Trial-qualifying time of 22.81, which was also a new pool record for the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion. Later in the finals, Dressel notched an NCAA 'A' cut time of 18.77 (top national time) for the win and an automatic big to the NCAA Championships.
Friday's finals were swam in a short course (25-yard pool) setting where the Gators remained a constant atop the leaderboards, posting three NCAA 'A' and 16 'B' cuts with wins in 11-of-14 events.
The UF men dominated early, going 1-5 in the 500-meter freestyle. Jan Switkowski led the group, posting the nation's second-fastest time and Florida's all-time seventh-fastest mark in school history (4:15.43). Jessica Thielmann also took home gold on the women's, posting the country's fastest time by nearly two seconds (4:39.82).
Ashlee Linn (1:58.14) and Georgia-Mae Hohmann (1:58.75) had strong showings in the 200 IM, posting the nation's second and fourth-fastest times while finishing 1-2 at the invite.
Gator Relays:
Florida's 200 freestyle relay team of Dressel, Main, Blyzinskyj and Szaranek swam an outstanding race in the team's first NCAA 'A' cut of the season. The quartet came in with a mark of 1:17.55, which is currently the fastest time in the country and ranks sixth all-time in UF history.
In the 400 medley relay, the foursome of Blyzinskyj, Dressel, Switkowski, Main made their way into Florida's all-time top-10 charts after posting UF's eighth-fastest mark (3:06.50) and the country's current fastest in 2015.
The Florida women also shined in the 400 medley relay, touching out at the 3:33.89 mark -- the country's current second-fastest time and UF's eighth-fastest of all-time.
In the diving Well:
The Gators took a 1-2 finish in the diving well after gathering top scores from seniors Kahlia Warner (304.65) and Delaney Dye (284.85). On the men's side, the Orange and Blue had a chance to experiment with new dives before postseason play came around. While testing a new list of dives, newcomer Sam Smith managed to bring home a fourth-place finish (325.58) while senior Zach Hernandez finished seventh (289.20) and freshman Dalton Goss came in eighth (275.93).
Head Coach Gregg Troy's Take:
“We had a good day and we swam well in a lot of places. There's a few sports we didn't but for a fall invitational I was happy with what we were able to see today. Certainly some outstanding performances in a couple places. Jessica Thielmann stood out with some of her long-course performances today and of course. We had some really good relays overall with the women today.
“On the men's side, obviously Caeleb Dressel had some outstanding performances. He did a great job in the relay while filling in for Mark Szaranek. We just had a lot of good swims today and swam really well overall.
“I'm pleased with where we were at today and how we started but we'll need to carry it over throughout the course of this three-day meet -- there's a lot of swimming left.”
Head Diving Coach Dale Schultz:
“Kahlia and Delaney dove strong and went 1-2 in their finishes off the one-meter which was great to see.
“On the men's side we did some experimenting with some new dives with it being a non-conference meet and our last chance to experiment before the postseason. I was happy with what I saw for our chance to experiment a little and try some harder dives. If we were going to do it, this was the meet.”
NCAA Qualifying Standards from Day One at the Buckeye Invitational
| Name | Year | Event | 'A' Cut | 'B' Cut | National Rank | UF Top-10 Rank |
| Dressel, Main, Blyzinskyj, Szaranek | -- | 200 Freestyle Relay | 1:17.55 | 1st | 6th | |
| Blyzinskyj, Dressel, Switkowski, Main | -- | 400 Medley Relay | 3:06.50 | 1st | 8th | |
| Caeleb Dressel | SO | 50 Freestyle | 18.77 | 1st | ||
| Corey Main | SR | 50 Freestyle | 19.73 | 7th | ||
| Jack Blyzinskyj | JR | 50 Freestyle | 20.18 | 25th | ||
| Jan Switkowski | SO | 500 Freestyle | 4:15.43 | 2nd | 7th | |
| Mitch D'Arrigo | JR | 500 Freestyle | 4:16.69 | 3rd | 11th | |
| Pawel Werner | SR | 500 Freestyle | 4:17.17 | 4th | -- | |
| Arthur Frayler | SR | 500 Freestyle | 4:19.28 | 5th | -- | |
| Blake Manganiello | SO | 500 Freestyle | 4:21.17 | 7th | -- | |
| Austin Manganiello | SR | 500 Freestyle | 4:23.26 | 10th | -- | |
| Andrew Brady | SO | 500 Freestyle | 4:23.40 | 11th | -- | |
| Justin Kaisrlik | SR | 500 Freestyle | 4:22.03 (J) | 6th | -- | |
| Mark Szaranek | SO | 200 IM | 1:44.95 | 1st | -- | |
| Alex Lebed | FR | 200 IM | 1:47.41 | 13th | -- | |
| Jessica Thielmann | SR | 500 Freestyle | 4:39.82 | 1st | -- | |
| Ashlee Linn | SR | 200 IM | 1:58.14 | 2nd | -- | |
| Georgia-Mae Hohmann | JR | 200 IM | 1:58.75 | 16th | -- | |
| Linn, Burns, Yambor-Maul, Hinds | -- | 400 Medley Relay | 3:34.52 | 2nd | -- |
US Olympic Trial-Qualifying Times from Day One at the Buckeye Invitational
| Name | Year | Country | Event | Time |
| Amelia Maughan | SO | Great Britain | 400 Freestyle | 4:14.20 |
| Jessica Thielmann | SR | Great Britain | 400 Freestyle | 4:17.94 |
| Austin Manganielleo | RSR | U.S.A. | 400 Freestyle | 3:57.05 |
| Jan Switkowski | SO | Poland | 400 Freestyle | 3:57.91 |
| Pawel Werner | SR | Poland | 400 Freestyle | 3:57.91 |
| Andrew Brady | SO | U.S.A. | 400 Freestyle | 3:58.15 |
| Alex Lebed | FR | U.S.A. | 200 IM | 2:03.68 |
| Caeleb Dressel | SO | U.S.A. | 50 Freestyle | 22.81 |
Up Next:
The Gators return to action tomorrow at 10 a.m. ET, competing in a long-course prelims session prior to Day Two finals at 6 p.m. Saturday's finals will also be swum in a short course setting
Additional Links:
** Complete Buckeye Invitational Notes **
Live Stats Throughout the Weekend
Live Twitter Updates from Ohio State Swimming
