Dressel Shines as Gators Wrap Day 2 at SECs

Wednesday, February 17

Columbia, Mo.

All Day

Florida Gators

SEC Championships

Caeleb Dressel 50-yard freestyle congrats

Caeleb Dressel American Record Holder

Dressel Shines as Gators Wrap Day 2 at SECs

Wednesday, February 17, 2016 | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving

UF wins 3 SEC Titles as men climb into first place

By: Benjamin Schmitz

** Complete Results **

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Sophomore Caeleb Dressel posted the nation's fastest 50-yard freestyle time on Wednesday night to highlight Day Two competition at the 2016 SEC Championships. The 2015 NCAA champion clocked a time of 18.23, which now stands as an American, NCAA, and U.S. Open record.

Dressel, a Green Cove Springs, Florida, native, bested the previous times of three-time Olympic Gold Medalist Nathan Adrian's former American record (18.66), Cesar Cielo's -- the most renown swimmer in Brazilian History -- U.S. Open record (18.47), and Cielo's NCAA Meet record of 18.47.

The seven-time All-American wasn't the only one to find success in UF's second day at the Championships. Two individual Gators and one Florida relay team also accepted SEC Titles on Wednesday night.

In addition to Dressel's 50-yard freestyle crown, senior Pawel Werner also took home the men's 500-Yard freestyle with a time of 4:13.31 -- a time that ranks fourth in the UF record books. Werner's time bested his previous mark of 4:16.33, which was swam in the prelims session on Wednesday morning.

The four-man 200-yard freestyle relay team of sophomores Dressel and Mark Szaranek, junior Jack Blyzinskyj, and senior Corey Main closed the night strong with a first-place finish, clocking a time of 1:16.46 -- a new UF school record.

On the women's side, the Gators night was highlighted by a pair of top-four finishes from seniors Natalie Hinds and Jessica Thielmann.

Thielmann, a 2015 SEC Champion, clocked a time of 4:39.76 in the women's 500-yard freestyle. The time was good enough for a fourth-place finish and an NCAA 'B' cut.

Hinds followed in the 50-yard freestyle, touching the wall the 22.06 mark. The Midland, Texas, native's time was good for a fourth-place finish and a second 'B' cut.

In the diving well, newcomer Sam Smith posted his second Top-10 finish in just his first go-around at the SEC Championships. Smith dove to a six-dive score of 315.10 off the 1-meter to finish 10th overall for the second day in a row.

After two full days of competition, the Florida men are currently in first place with 504 points and sit ahead of second-place Auburn (497). On the women's side, UF sits in fourth-place with 274 points.

Florida Head Coach Gregg Troy on Day 2 Competition (Full Interview link below):
"It's almost a little shocking to go as fast as Caeleb did. We've done some good things in practice but I didn't expect him to go that fast. He's a good kid, he works hard, and he deserves it. Steve Jungbluth our sprint coach does an outstanding job with our sprinters and Steve deserves a lot of credit with his performance tonight.

"Overall it was a great night. We did a good job finishing strong with the 200-Yard freestyle relay and I'm really happy with how we raced today."

Florida Diving Coach Dale Schultz on Day 2 Competition:
"Sam [Smith] put together another good performance and finished in the Top-10 which was good to see but overall we'd like to see all of our guys stepping up. We're going to step back and look at what we did today and where we can improve, and hopefully help our men's team score a few more points as we move forward in the week."

Complete Post Meet Interviews:
Florida Head Coach Gregg Troy Recaps Day 2 at 2016 SEC Championships
Caeleb Dressel Recaps Day 2 at 2016 SEC Championships
Pawel Werner Recaps 500-Yard Freestyle SEC Championship Race

Notable Links:
Caeleb Dressel sets American record in 50-Yard finals with a time of 18.23
Caeleb Dressel sets (former) American record in 50-Yard Prelims with a time of 18.39
Complete SEC Championship Notes
Live Video Streaming (WatchESPN)
Live Stats (Free)
Complete SEC Competition Schedule