Gators Send 5 Individuals, 2 Relays Into Thursday's Finals

D'Arrigo wins 500-Yard Freestyle prelims

Gators Send 5 Individuals, 2 Relays Into Thursday's Finals

Thursday, March 24, 2016 | Men's Swimming & Diving

UF will compete in tonight's finals at 6 p.m. ET

By: Benjamin Schmitz

_{ATLANTA --}_{The University of Florida men's swimming and diving team got off to a fast start in Day Two prelims competition at the 2016 NCAA Championships. Overall, the Gators sent five student-athletes into tonight's 'A' finals and one in the 'B' final. In addition, both Florida relays -- the 200-Yard Freestyle and the 400-Yard Medley -- will compete in tonight's 'A' finals.

In the 200-Yard Freestyle Relay, the foursome of sophomore Caeleb Dressel, senior Corey Main, junior Jack Blyzinskyj and sophomore Mark Szaranek registered a time of 1:16.25, which marked a new Florida school record and ranked third among a field of 20. The group will compete in tonight's 'A' final.

Additionally, the Gators' 400-Yard Medley Relay team of Dressel, Main, Blyzinskyj, and Switkowski finished eighth overall, touching out with a time of 3:05.99. The quartet will compete in tonight's 'A' final.}

_{Individually, the Gators were led by Dressel and junior Mitch D'Arrigo after the two locked up No. 1 seeds in their respective events.

In the 50-Yard Freestyle, Dressel nearly matched his American and U.S. Open records from the 2016 SEC Championships with a time of 18.29. Main also competed in the event and finished 22nd overall (19.59).}

_{D'Arrigo, in addition, clocked the meet's fastest time in the 500-Yard Freestyle prelims, coming in with a season-best 4:11.48. Senior Pawel Werner will also join D'Arrigo in the finals after posting a ninth-place finish, a 4:14.18 which puts him in the 'B' final. Benjamin Lawless (19th, 4:17.00), senior Austin Manganiello (22nd, 4:18.16), Arthur Frayler (36th, 4:21.56), and Blake Manganiello (47th, 4:24.35) rounded out the Florida men competing in the event.

In the 200 IM, Switkowski had a strong showing, finishing 8th overall to qualify for tonight's 'A' final (1:42.14). Freshmen Brennan Balogh and Alex Lebed also competed in the event. Lebed finished 31st with a time of 1:45.43 while Balogh followed behind in 33rd-place (1:45.83).

The 400-Yard Medley relay concluded Thursday's preliminary swimming events. The relay team of Blyzinskyj, Dressel, Switkowski, and Main finished eight overall and qualified for tonight's 'A' final with a time of 3:05.99.

In the diving well, newcomer Sam Smith is set to compete from the 1-Meter springboard. A Top-8 finish would send him into tonight's 'A' finals and a Top-16 prelims finish will qualify him for the consolation finals directly after the 1-Meter prelims.

Tonight's finals session begins at 6 p.m. ET and can be streamed live at the}_{Atlanta Swimming's Webcast Page. In addition, fans can follow alive via live stats.}