Four individuals, two relays advance to NCAA day 2 finals

Senior Jack Blyzinskyj participated in both relay races this morning, anchoring the 200 free relay and leading off the 400 medley relay. He'll advance in both for tonight's finals.

Four individuals, two relays advance to NCAA day 2 finals

Thursday, March 23, 2017 | Men's Swimming & Diving

The Gators rank third heading into tonight's finals session

By: Layne Weitzel

DAY 1 RECAP | DAY 2 PRELIMS RESULTS | DAY 2 FINALS HEAT SHEET
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS | PSYCH SHEET

INDIANAPOLIS – Florida worked through a productive prelims session during the second day of the NCAA Championships, qualifying four individual swimmers and two relays to tonight's finals. There, the Gators can add on to their 32-point total, which they earned from a third-place finish in last night's 800 free relay.

200 free relay
Florida sent out Enzo Martinez-Scarpe, Caeleb Dressel, Jan Switkowski and Jack Blyzinskyj for the day's opening event. The quartet went 1:15.52 to win heat 3 and received the second seed heading into tonight's championship final.

500 free
The 500 free was packed with Gators – six competed overall in the event and three in the same heat. Swimming in heat 5, Mitch D'Arrigo earned a trip to the consolation final, placing fourth in the heat and 10^th overall at 4:12.89. Ben Lawless followed up in 17^th, placing second in heat 4 at 4:14.14 and shaving 2.8 seconds off his seed time. He received the first alternate spot

In his first NCAA appearance, Andrew Brady went 4:17.62 to finish 24^th overall and second in heat 3. He improved on his seed time by nearly a second. Also in heat 3 were Blake Manganiello and Maxime Rooney. Manganiello touched in fifth in the heat and 33^rd overall with a time of 4:19.44, while Rooney finished eighth and 48^th overall in 4:24.21.

Khader Baqlah opened the event for Florida in heat 2, finishing fourth there and 43^rd overall in 4:21.70.

200 IM
The 200 IM featured five Gators in Ross Palazzo, Brennan Balogh, Alex Lebed, Jan Switkowski and Mark Szaranek. Szaranek touched second in heat 7 with an improved 1:41.11, earning the three-seed in tonight's championship final. Jan Switkowski will precede him in the consolation final, having finished fifth in heat 6 and 13^th overall in 1:42.75.

Alex Lebed also grabbed a spot in the top-25, finishing 23^rd overall and sixth in heat 5 at 1:44.52. In heat 3, Brennan Balogh finished fourth at 1:45.43. He stands at 31^st overall. Ross Palazzo rounded out the Gator contingent in 40^th place overall. He touched fifth in heat 2 at 1:46.50.

50 free
Caeleb Dressel headed into prelims as the top seed in the 50 free and threw down an IU Natatorium pool record 18.38 to grab the top spot for tonight's finals. His 18.38 time is the sixth-fastest ever, and he now owns the top eight and nine of the top 10 marks all-time.

400 medley relay
The Gators went with their tried-and-true medley relay lineup of Blyzinskyj, Chandler Bray, Switkowski and Dressel. They combined for a time of 3:04.20 to finish third in heat 4 and fifth overall, sending them to the championship final later today.

1-meter
Samuel Smith placed 32^nd in the preliminary stage with a total score of 293.40. He'll return to the diving well Saturday to compete on platform.

"Except for his second round dive, Sam was pretty solid today," said diving coach Bryan Gillooly. "Not quite his best, and that's what it will take to get into a final here. I haven't ever seen a field this deep before, and with the scoring being this tight, any mistake can take you out. He fought hard throughout and finished strong. He will be even more motivated for the platform event and will certainly give it all he's got."

Florida moves forward with 200 free relay, 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free and 400 medley relay finals tonight beginning at 6 p.m. ET.

COMING UP TONIGHT
200 free relay – championship final
500 free – Mitch D'Arrigo (consolation final)
200 IM – Mark Szaranek (championship final), Jan Switkowski (consolation final)
50 free – Caeleb Dressel (championship final)
400 medley relay – championship final

Results can be viewed live via the NCAA and will be posted in full on FloridaGators.com at the conclusion of each day of competition. Wednesday and Thursday, as well as Friday's and Saturday's prelims, will be streamed via IUPUIJags.com, and the Friday and Saturday finals can be viewed live on ESPN3. For the full list of streaming links, visit FloridaGators.com.

PARTICIPATING GATORS
Qualifying Gators
Brennan Balogh
Khader Baqlah
Andrew Brady
Chandler Bray
Mitch D'Arrigo
Caeleb Dressel
Ben Lawless
Alex Lebed
Blake Manganiello
Ross Palazzo
Maxime Rooney
Samuel Smith
Jan Switkowski
Mark Szaranek

Relay-Only Swimmers
Jack Blyzinskyj
Enzo Martinez-Scarpe

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Thursday, March 23
1-meter
200 free relay
500 free
200 IM
50 free
400 medley relay

Friday, March 24
3-meter
400 IM
100 fly
200 free
100 breast
100 back
200 medley relay

Saturday, March 25
Platform
1650 free
200 back
100 free
200 breast
200 fly
400 free relay

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