Gators Splash and Dash Toward Two More SEC Titles

Wednesday, February 15

Knoxville, TN

All Day

Florida Gators

SEC Championships

No soft smiles here for Enzo Martinez-Scarpe, Caeleb Dressel, Jan Switkowski and Jack Blyzinskyj, who repeated tonight as SEC champions in the 200 free relay.

Gators Splash and Dash Toward Two More SEC Titles

Wednesday, February 15, 2017 | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving

Florida also collected two silvers and a bronze medal

By: Layne Weitzel

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS | DAY 2 FINALS RESULTS | DAY 2 PRELIMS RECAP

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – If you blinked, you probably missed it.

Florida added two more trophies to its shelf Wednesday night at the second day of SEC Championships, both from fast swims.

After today's action, the Gator men move to first in the team standings with 486.5 points, and the women stay steady at seventh with 238 points.

The first title of the night came from Caeleb Dressel in his signature 50 free event. Dressel entered the race as the defending conference champion and threw down an 18.46 – the only sub-19 time – to collect 32 points. He now owns all seven of the top-7 marks in the 50 free all-time in yards.

"There's room for improvement, but I'm happy with the time for where I'm at now," Dressel said post-meet.

Enzo Martinez-Scarpe also scored points for Florida in that race, finishing eighth in the A-final with a B-cut 19.67.

In the men's 200 free relay, Dressel, Martinez-Scarpe, Jan Switkowski and Jack Blyzinskyj combined to win in an A-cut 1:15.67. Martinez-Scarpe led off, followed by Dressel, who would give Florida a lead it would not relinquish. Switkowski then split 18.90, and Blyzinskyj anchored with a 19.24 time.

That win marked the Gators' second-consecutive title in the 200 free relay and a new school record.

"We've come a long way to get to this point, and it's just good to trust your teammates and get a good win for the team," said Blyzinskyj.

Additionally, Dressel's 17.86 split on the second leg tied Vladimir Morozov (2013) for the fastest 50-yard relay split of all-time. He had split 17.90 Tuesday night on the first-place 200 medley relay.

Florida also medaled in both the men's 500 free and 200 IM.

Mitch D'Arrigo, the SEC's 500 free champion back in 2015, fought hard to gain ground late in the event tonight. He ultimately placed second with an A-cut 4:12.71, earning a silver medal and 28 points for Florida. Teammate Ben Lawless competed in the 500 free as well, placing sixth with a B-cut 4:16.94.

Mark Szaranek and Jan Switkowski also won spots on the podium in the 200 IM. Szaranek finished as the runner-up by a slim .02 seconds, clocking an A-cut 1:41.30 and passing Ryan Lochte's SEC meet record of 1:41.76 (however, this record is now held by Chase Kalisz, who won the event in 1:41.28). Switkowski finished with a bronze medal in a time of 1:42.25. Alex Lebed swam in the A-final as well, placing seventh with a B-cut time of 1:44.89.

Also in the 500 free, Blake Manganiello finished third in the B-final at 4:18.28, Andrew Brady placed fourth at 4:18.53 and Maxime Rooney finished seventh at 4:20.94. Khader Baqlah was the runner-up in the C-final at 4:19.54. All four times were B-cuts.

In the 200 IM, Brennan Balogh represented Florida in the B-final, finishing second at 1:45.06. Ross Palazzo used the breaststroke leg to his advantage in the C-final, placing third at 1:46.54. Both times were B-cuts as well.

On the women's side, six Gators competed in the various finals.

In the 500 free, both Autumn Finke and Savanna Faulconer registered B-cuts. Finke swam to a fourth-place finish in 4:43.89, while Faulconer clocked a 4:44.85 to finish in seventh. Kahra Williams also swam a B-cut 4:45.61 to finish the C-final in fifth.

Kelly Fertel swam for the Gators in the 200 IM B-final. She touched seventh at 1:58.67 to earn a B-cut.

Sherridon Dressel and Emma Ball rounded out the night for Florida in the 50 free, both earning B-cuts. Dressel placed seventh in the B-final at 22.62, while Ball finished fifth in the C-final at 22.82.

"The young girls are having a lot of best times and are improving a lot. We just have to get better, but they're doing a tremendous job," said head coach Gregg Troy. "We had strong swims today, both in the morning and night. There were lots of close races, but it was a good day."

Competition will continue Thursday morning with 400 IM, 100 fly and 200 free prelims beginning at 10 a.m. The men will also hold 3-meter prelims beginning at 1 p.m., and the finals of those aforementioned events will start at 6 p.m.

Results can be viewed live on utsports.com and will be posted in full on FloridaGators.com at the conclusion of each day of competition. The meet will be streamed live on SEC Network +.

Fans planning to visit during any day of the meet are encouraged to visit Tennessee's meet information page for more on tickets, parking, the clear bag policy, etc. Doors open to the public at 9 a.m. each day.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Thursday, Feb. 16
Men's 3-meter
400 IM
100 fly
200 free

Friday, Feb. 17
Women's platform
200 fly
100 back
100 breast
400 medley relay

Saturday, Feb. 18
Men's platform
1650 free
200 back
100 free
200 breast
400 free relay

TEAM STANDINGS
Men
1. Florida (486.5 points)
2. Auburn (346 points)
3. Texas A&M (324 points)
4. Georgia (314 points)
5. Alabama (287 points)
6. South Carolina (278 points)
7. Tennessee (261.5 points)
8. LSU (199 points)
9. Kentucky (196 points)
10. Missouri (186 points)

Women
1. Texas A&M (488 points)
2. Georgia (410 points)
3. Auburn (371 points)
4. Missouri (349 points)
5. Tennessee (344 points)
6. Kentucky (310 points)
7. Florida (238 points)
8. LSU (231 points)
9. South Carolina (203 points)
10. Alabama (187 points)
11. Arkansas (133 points)
12. Vanderbilt (30 points)

FLORIDA'S TITLES
Men's 200 medley relay (Jack Blyzinskyj, Chandler Bray, Jan Switkowski, Caeleb Dressel) – 1:23.44
Men's 800 freestyle relay (Khader Baqlah, Maxime Rooney, Mitch D'Arrigo, Mark Szaranek) – 6:12.18
*Men's 50 free (Caeleb Dressel) – 18.46
*Men's 200 free relay (Enzo Martinez-Scarpe, Caeleb Dressel, Jan Switkowski, Jack Blyzinskyj) – 1:15.67

*Titles won Wednesday

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