Best of 2016: Florida Swimming & Diving's Calendar Year-in-Review
Saturday, December 31, 2016 | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving
We're remembering 10 of the program's best moments that happened this year
2016 turned out to be a big year for Florida swimming & diving both in and out of the pool. If you follow @GatorsSwimDv on Twitter, you may have noticed the recent run-through of 10 of the program's best moments of 2016. Here they are, chronologically, in one place and without the 140-character limit. Note: This list is not comprehensive.
1. Jan. 23: Senior Day vs. Auburn
In what would turn out to be Florida's final meet in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center Natatorium in 2016, the Gators faced Auburn on Senior Day and honored 17 seniors. The UF women won 13 of 16 events en route to upsetting the 10th-ranked Tigers 192-108. The men's race was much tighter, with No. 7 Auburn taking the win by just nine points with a score of 154.5-145.5. Seven Gators also made progress toward the upcoming Rio Olympics in posting Olympic Trials-qualifying times.
2. Feb. 16 & 18: Kahlia Warner wins two SEC championships
Along with an appearance in the 2016 NCAA Championships, senior Kahlia Warner wrapped up her career as a Gator with two SEC titles on the 1- and 3-meter. Her 346.10 score on the 1-meter broke Kara Salamone's seven-year school record of 328.30, and her 383.75 on the 3-meter displaced Monica Dodson's 373.85 score from 2011. Warner, who was later named the SEC Female Diver of the Year, became the first diver to win conference championships on the springboards in the same year since South Carolina's Allison Brennan did so in 2006.
3. Feb. 17 & 20: Caeleb Dressel breaks American records in two events
During the second day of the SEC championships, SEC Male Swimmer of the Year Caeleb Dressel splashed and dashed in the 50 free prelims, touching out in 18.39. Later that evening, he timed 18.23 in the finals. Three days later in the 100 free finals, he swam a 41.07. Dressel's times in both events broke American records and gave him his fifth and sixth conference titles of his career. His 50 free numbers timed faster than three-time Olympic sprinter Nathan Adrian's 18.66 previous American record and two-time Brazilian Olympian Cesar Cielo's 18.47 U.S. Open and NCAA meet record.
4. Feb. 20: Natalie Hinds defends her 100 free SEC title
Natalie Hinds and fellow senior Kahlia Warner combined for the women's three conference titles, as Hinds touched at 47.35 to win the 100 free. She had also won the event in 2015.
5. Feb. 20: Florida men crowned SEC champions
Thanks to four relay and four individual titles, the men's team brought home its fourth-straight SEC championship. The Gators totaled 1,275 points throughout the five-day meet to beat out Auburn by 52 points. Florida men's swimming & diving is the second-most winningest program in the SEC when it comes to conference titles, second only to Kentucky men's basketball's 47 SEC titles.
6. March: Gators travel to NCAA Championships
Fourteen men and 12 women qualified to represent Florida at the NCAA Championships, which were hosted by Georgia Tech in Atlanta. In the men's competition, Florida finished third, matching the highest team finish under Gregg Troy, and the women finished 19th. Nine men combined for 37 All-America honors (Caeleb Dressel also won two national championships in the 50 and 100 free and was named NCAA Co-Swimmer of the Year), while eight women won 14 All-America honors. For the upcoming 2017 NCAA Championships, the men return 10 NCAA participants and the women return six.
7. June/July: Jeff Poppell and Bryan Gillooly join coaching staff
Associate head coach Jeff Poppell and diving coach Bryan Gillooly were hired to the Gator coaching staff over the summer. Poppell, who is in his 24th year of coaching, had spent the last four years as the head coach for Gulliver Preparatory School and Gulliver Swim Club in south Florida and also has led the Bolles School and Arkansas programs. Gillooly, who was a two-time national champion and 10-time All-American diver at Miami (FL), has coaching experience internationally, but he has primarily focused his career on diving in the state of Florida. Most recently, he was in charge of divers at Florida Atlantic and was also an age group diving coach for the Fort Lauderdale Diving team for two years before he arrived in Gainesville.
8. August: current and former Gator swimmers head to Rio Olympics
Thirty athletes with Gator ties, including 15 swimmers, competed in the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Those fifteen, representing 10 countries, combined for six of Florida's 13 overall medals and four of Florida's eight golds. Among the Olympic highlights:
Assistant coach Leah Stancil received the honor of being one of 25 Barbadian athletes inducted into the newly created Barbados Sporting Hall of Fame. Stancil, the lone swimmer in the group, appeared in the 1996 and 2000 Olympics for Barbados and became the first Barbadian female to compete in an Olympic final across all individual sports when she placed fifth in the 50 free in 1996. Stancil swam at Florida from 1998 to 2002 and was a 12-time All-American and 2002 SEC championship team member.
10. Feb. 22: Gregg Troy shaves his signature mustache
This moment is out of order chronologically, but it was saved for last for a reason. It all started with a Troy fan Q&A around a year ago that was set up by Ben Schmitz, the Florida swimming & diving media contact at the time. Caeleb Dressel joined in, asking how fast he would need to swim the 50 free for Troy to shave off his mustache. Troy decided that Dressel would have to swim 18.39 -- which he hit and then passed at the SEC championships. The Monday after SECs, prior to practice, Troy made good on his agreement, shaving off the mustache he's sported since 1972. Check out the video that GatorVision put together back in February:
Gators, thank you for your support in 2016. See you on the other side in 2017!
1. Jan. 23: Senior Day vs. Auburn
Jan. 23: In a split result against Auburn, Florida honored 17 seniors on Senior Day. The meet would be the last of 2016 in the @OConnellCTR. pic.twitter.com/HwJxpPnyfP
— Gators Swim & Dive (@GatorsSwimDv) December 26, 2016
In what would turn out to be Florida's final meet in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center Natatorium in 2016, the Gators faced Auburn on Senior Day and honored 17 seniors. The UF women won 13 of 16 events en route to upsetting the 10th-ranked Tigers 192-108. The men's race was much tighter, with No. 7 Auburn taking the win by just nine points with a score of 154.5-145.5. Seven Gators also made progress toward the upcoming Rio Olympics in posting Olympic Trials-qualifying times.
2. Feb. 16 & 18: Kahlia Warner wins two SEC championships
Feb. 16/18: SEC Female Diver of the Year Kahlia Warner won @SEC titles on the 1- and 3-meter, breaking school records in both events. pic.twitter.com/mwGYf2VTBO
— Gators Swim & Dive (@GatorsSwimDv) December 27, 2016
Along with an appearance in the 2016 NCAA Championships, senior Kahlia Warner wrapped up her career as a Gator with two SEC titles on the 1- and 3-meter. Her 346.10 score on the 1-meter broke Kara Salamone's seven-year school record of 328.30, and her 383.75 on the 3-meter displaced Monica Dodson's 373.85 score from 2011. Warner, who was later named the SEC Female Diver of the Year, became the first diver to win conference championships on the springboards in the same year since South Carolina's Allison Brennan did so in 2006.
3. Feb. 17 & 20: Caeleb Dressel breaks American records in two events
Feb. 17/20: At SECs, @SEC Male Swimmer of the Year Caeleb Dressel broke ???? records in the 50 & 100 free, leading to wins in both events. pic.twitter.com/qgT6W1B6cd
— Gators Swim & Dive (@GatorsSwimDv) December 27, 2016
During the second day of the SEC championships, SEC Male Swimmer of the Year Caeleb Dressel splashed and dashed in the 50 free prelims, touching out in 18.39. Later that evening, he timed 18.23 in the finals. Three days later in the 100 free finals, he swam a 41.07. Dressel's times in both events broke American records and gave him his fifth and sixth conference titles of his career. His 50 free numbers timed faster than three-time Olympic sprinter Nathan Adrian's 18.66 previous American record and two-time Brazilian Olympian Cesar Cielo's 18.47 U.S. Open and NCAA meet record.
4. Feb. 20: Natalie Hinds defends her 100 free SEC title
Feb. 20: Natalie Hinds successfully defended her 100 free @SEC title from 2015, touching out at 47.35 in the A-final. pic.twitter.com/16il5n9Rd9
— Gators Swim & Dive (@GatorsSwimDv) December 27, 2016
Natalie Hinds and fellow senior Kahlia Warner combined for the women's three conference titles, as Hinds touched at 47.35 to win the 100 free. She had also won the event in 2015.
5. Feb. 20: Florida men crowned SEC champions
Feb. 20: The Gator men took home their fourth-consecutive and 37th-overall @SEC championship, beating out Auburn by 52 points. pic.twitter.com/md2cxhnY6D
— Gators Swim & Dive (@GatorsSwimDv) December 28, 2016
Thanks to four relay and four individual titles, the men's team brought home its fourth-straight SEC championship. The Gators totaled 1,275 points throughout the five-day meet to beat out Auburn by 52 points. Florida men's swimming & diving is the second-most winningest program in the SEC when it comes to conference titles, second only to Kentucky men's basketball's 47 SEC titles.
6. March: Gators travel to NCAA Championships
March: The #Gators appeared at the @NCAA Championships yet again, where the men placed third and the women finished 19th. pic.twitter.com/NuyFBY2lcO
— Gators Swim & Dive (@GatorsSwimDv) December 29, 2016
Fourteen men and 12 women qualified to represent Florida at the NCAA Championships, which were hosted by Georgia Tech in Atlanta. In the men's competition, Florida finished third, matching the highest team finish under Gregg Troy, and the women finished 19th. Nine men combined for 37 All-America honors (Caeleb Dressel also won two national championships in the 50 and 100 free and was named NCAA Co-Swimmer of the Year), while eight women won 14 All-America honors. For the upcoming 2017 NCAA Championships, the men return 10 NCAA participants and the women return six.
7. June/July: Jeff Poppell and Bryan Gillooly join coaching staff
June/July: Associate head coach Jeff Poppell and diving coach Bryan Gillooly joined the #Gators staff over the summer. pic.twitter.com/7M4RweM0Y2
— Gators Swim & Dive (@GatorsSwimDv) December 29, 2016
Associate head coach Jeff Poppell and diving coach Bryan Gillooly were hired to the Gator coaching staff over the summer. Poppell, who is in his 24th year of coaching, had spent the last four years as the head coach for Gulliver Preparatory School and Gulliver Swim Club in south Florida and also has led the Bolles School and Arkansas programs. Gillooly, who was a two-time national champion and 10-time All-American diver at Miami (FL), has coaching experience internationally, but he has primarily focused his career on diving in the state of Florida. Most recently, he was in charge of divers at Florida Atlantic and was also an age group diving coach for the Fort Lauderdale Diving team for two years before he arrived in Gainesville.
8. August: current and former Gator swimmers head to Rio Olympics
Aug. 6-13: Fifteen swimmers represented the #Gators and their respective countries at the Rio Olympics, combining for six medals. pic.twitter.com/EFmiPrlxUk
— Gators Swim & Dive (@GatorsSwimDv) December 30, 2016
Thirty athletes with Gator ties, including 15 swimmers, competed in the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Those fifteen, representing 10 countries, combined for six of Florida's 13 overall medals and four of Florida's eight golds. Among the Olympic highlights:
- When she placed sixth in the 100 breast final at 1:07.18, Hilda Luthersdottir became the first Icelandic woman to compete in an Olympic swimming final.
- Elizabeth Beisel was voted by her peers as one of six captains for the U.S. Olympic swim team and received high praise from the coaching staff for her leadership and encouragement.
- Seven different Gators swam the 200 free (either the 200 free individual event or the 800 free relay), three participated in the 800 free relay final and three Gators combined for two relay golds, one relay silver and one 200 free bronze in the two events.
- Eight Gators (Mitch D'Arrigo, Caeleb Dressel, Corey Main, Eduardo Solaeche-Gomez, Jan Switkowski, Rex Tullius, Dan Wallace and Pawel Werner) were first-time Olympians.
Sept. 10: Assistant coach and two-time Olympian Leah Stancil was inducted into the inaugural class of the Barbados Sporting Hall of Fame. ???? pic.twitter.com/ib5cKfHqMY
— Gators Swim & Dive (@GatorsSwimDv) December 30, 2016
Assistant coach Leah Stancil received the honor of being one of 25 Barbadian athletes inducted into the newly created Barbados Sporting Hall of Fame. Stancil, the lone swimmer in the group, appeared in the 1996 and 2000 Olympics for Barbados and became the first Barbadian female to compete in an Olympic final across all individual sports when she placed fifth in the 50 free in 1996. Stancil swam at Florida from 1998 to 2002 and was a 12-time All-American and 2002 SEC championship team member.
10. Feb. 22: Gregg Troy shaves his signature mustache
We saved this for last -- one of the best moments of 2016 was definitely Gregg Troy shaving his mustache.
— Gators Swim & Dive (@GatorsSwimDv) December 31, 2016
??: https://t.co/X0cnJq0yu9 pic.twitter.com/jzKBtalceQ
This moment is out of order chronologically, but it was saved for last for a reason. It all started with a Troy fan Q&A around a year ago that was set up by Ben Schmitz, the Florida swimming & diving media contact at the time. Caeleb Dressel joined in, asking how fast he would need to swim the 50 free for Troy to shave off his mustache. Troy decided that Dressel would have to swim 18.39 -- which he hit and then passed at the SEC championships. The Monday after SECs, prior to practice, Troy made good on his agreement, shaving off the mustache he's sported since 1972. Check out the video that GatorVision put together back in February:
Gators, thank you for your support in 2016. See you on the other side in 2017!
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