Florida Gators
South Carolina
Gators Post 3 National Top Times in Dual Sweep Over South Carolina
Saturday, November 7, 2015 | Men's Swimming & Diving
** Complete Results**
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The University of Florida men's and women's swimming and diving teams picked up a pair of wins over South Carolina on Friday night inside the Stephen C. O'Connell Center in Gainesville, Florida. The UF men extended their win streak against the Gamecocks to eight meets with a 178-115 decision while the women notched a 165.5-126.5 victory to remain a perfect 19-0 in the all-time series between the two schools.
Junior Jack Blyzinskyj had a strong showing for the Orange and Blue early on, taking first in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 46.21. In addition to improving his NCAA 'B' cut time, the Weston, Massachusetts, native also tied California's Ryan Murphy for the fastest 100-yard backstroke time in the country. Blyzinskyj also swam to top times in the 400 freestyle relay (2:56.67) and 200 medley relay (1:27.46), and a second-place showing in the 100-yard butterfly (48.77).
Newcomer Jan Switkowski also had an impressive night, swimming to first-place times in all four of his races and posting two of the country's top times. The Lublin, Poland, native got things started in the 200 medley relay (1:27.46), before posting the nation's top time in the 200-yard freestyle (1:34.81). Switkowski went back-to-back in rewriting the nattional top-times charts after touching out at the 1:45.07 mark in the 200-yard IM.
On the women's side, UF was led by senior Natalie Hinds who gathered a trio of top finishes. The Midland, Texas, native opened the meet by anchoring the first-place 200-yard medley relay team to a win (1:43.74). Hinds then got it done individually with a win in the 200-yard freestyle (1:49.29) before teaming up in a relay format to win the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:23.11).
Freshman Hannah Burns had a strong outing on Friday night, swimming to a pair wins with season-best times in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:04.23) and 500-yard freestyle (4:55.96).
In the diving well, senior Kahlia Warner dove to a pair of wins off both the one and three-meter boards. The Queensland, Australia, native dove to a season-best score of 312.90 off the one-meter to open things up -- nearly matching the UF school record of 328.30. Warner wrapped up on the three-meter with a first-place score of 351.30, besting the second-place finishing score by nearly 40 points (312.01).
On the men's side, newcomer Sam Smith shined again, diving to the top finish on the one-meter with a score of 320.92. Smith also led UF off the three-meter with a runner-up showing (387.61). Senior Zach Hernandez finished third after posting a career-best performance off the three-meter, diving to a mark of 370.95.
Up Next:
The men's and women's swimming and diving teams will travel to Columbus, Ohio, from November 20-22, for a three-day competition at Ohio State. The Gators will swim a mix of long course (50-meter pool) and short course yards (25-yard pool) throughout the weekend.
Head Coach Gregg Troy's Take on South Carolina:
“South Carolina is a well-coached team and they've got a lot of great competitors – it was a good night of racing.
“Jan Switkowski and Arthur Frayler had outstanding performances. Jan is still new to the program here and he's still improving on where he's at.
“On the women's side, freshman Hannah Burns stood out the most. She's been great in practice and continues to work hard and better her times.”
Head Diving Coach Dale Schultz:
“We had a good day today. The diving was close especially on the men's side. We've had four tough opponents in a row now and it was a good contest.
“Sam Smith and Kahlia Warner stuck out on both boards -- Kahlia dove to a pair of wins. I'm also really proud of Zach Hernandez, he did an outstanding job tonight.
“We'll keep our training similar to where it's at, except for the fact that we'll add a little more platform training in there to prepare for the Ohio State meet, we haven't had a ton of opportunities to work on that.”
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