Texas, Indiana Deal Gators First Losses of Season

Friday, October 21

Bloomington, IN

12:30 p.m.

Florida Gators

131

150

Indiana

Mark Szaranek gave Florida one of its three event wins, helping the Gators sweep the 200m IM.

Texas, Indiana Deal Gators First Losses of Season

Friday, October 21, 2016 | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving

The three teams will resume competition tomorrow in a short-course-yards format

By: Layne Weitzel

FULL LCM MEET RESULTS

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Florida suffered its first losses of the season today – the men fell to Indiana 181-100 and to Texas 185-96, while the women lost to Indiana 150-131 and to Texas 186-90.

This meet served as the season-opener for both Texas and Indiana. The Gators competed just last week against FSU.

The three teams' divers kicked off the day of competition with the men's 1-meter and women's 3-meter. The youthful Gators, up against a handful of Olympians, held their own. Both 1-meter fourth-placer Dylan Power (304.80) and fifth-placer Samuel Smith (303.90) registered NCAA-qualifying scores. Teya Syskakis, who finished fifth in the 3-meter with a 278.70 score, was less than two points away from the NCAA mark.

In the pool, freshman Kelly Fertel notched her first collegiate event win in the 200m IM at 2:20.94, with her teammates Kay Sargent and Savanna Faulconer following close behind in second and third.

Mark Szaranek clinched Florida's sweep in the event, touching first at 2:06.60.

Sherridon Dressel, Kelsey Dambacher, Mollie Pulte and Amelia Maughan – UF's A-team – rounded out the Gator wins for the day, finishing first in the 400m free relay at 3:56.26.

Georgia Darwent also swam a solid meet, finishing second in both the 400m free (4:21.80) and 800m free (8:52.39). On the men's side, Jan Switkowski placed second in the 200m fly (2:01.69), third in the 100m fly (55.02), fourth in the 100m free (51.40) and teamed up with Jack Blyzinskyj, Stanley Wu and Maxime Rooney to finish third in the 200m medley relay.

Today's competition was conducted at Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center's 50-meter long-course pool. Tomorrow's races will move to the 25-yard short-course pool and are scheduled for a 10 a.m. ET start.

TROY'S TAKE
"We raced well, but we weren't as good as what we need to be. We certainly have some things we have to work on. We had some people race really well, but we weren't in the same ballpark as two good teams today. They were just better than we were, so we'll see if we can't be a little bit better tomorrow. We got better as we went through the meet, but we have a ways to go.

"The freshman girls stood up, and they were in all the races – we just lost too many close races. On the men's side, Jan Switkowski and Mark Szaranek were both really good. We just didn't have enough good swims today."

GILLOOLY'S TAKE
"Today went very well. I'm very pleased and proud of everybody's performance. We're up against two teams that have some of the best divers not only in the NCAA, but in the world. It was a great experience for our young team to be in competition with those divers, and they held their own. The placing at this time of the year is not what's important. I think that everyone elevated their level and did very respectably in a very difficult competition."

FLORIDA'S WINS
Men's Events
200 IM – Mark Szaranek (2:06.60)

Women's Events
200 IM – Kelly Fertel (2:20.94)
400 free relay – Sherridon Dressel, Kelsey Dambacher, Mollie Pulte, Amelia Maughan (A-team) [3:56.26]

Live results are available through IUHoosiers.com. Results will also be updated throughout the day on Twitter at @GatorsSwimDv and posted in full at the conclusion of the competition on FloridaGators.com. Both days will also be streamed live on BTN Plus ($).

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