Gators place third at NCAA Championships to end season

Saturday, March 25

Indianapolis, IN

All Day

Florida Gators

NCAA Championships

Gators place third at NCAA Championships to end season

Saturday, March 25, 2017 | Men's Swimming & Diving

Florida broke seven school records over the course of four days

By: Layne Weitzel

DAY 4 PRELIMS RECAP | COMPLETE MEET RESULTS

INDIANAPOLIS – Propelled by four national titles, the Florida men's swimming & diving team placed third in the team standings at the 2017 NCAA Championships, held in the world-famous IU Natatorium.

The Gators scored 294.5 points over the four-day meet to earn third place, which matches their best team finish under head coach Gregg Troy. Florida finished third at both the 2016 and 2014 NCAAs.

Tonight also marks Florida's 41^st top-10 national finish all-time. The Gators have finished inside the top 10 at NCAAs every year since 2000 (Troy took on the men's team prior to the 1999-2000 season).

WATCH: GatorVision's recap from Day 4 of NCAAs

Rounding out the meet's national titles for Florida was Caeleb Dressel in the 100 free. The junior collected his third individual championship of the week behind an American, NCAA and U.S. Open time of 40.00.

Dressel was voted the CSCAA Swimmer of the Year, the second such honor of his career. Last year, he shared the honor with Texas' Joseph Schooling and California's Ryan Murphy.

Now with six national titles to his name, Dressel ranks second in program history to Gator great Ryan Lochte, who won seven championships at Florida.

Over the past four days, Florida combined for 31 All-America honors and seven school records (including Dressel's two American, NCAA and U.S. Open records).

FLORIDA'S TITLES
200 IM – Mark Szaranek (1:40.67)
50 free – Caeleb Dressel (18.23)
100 fly – Caeleb Dressel (43.58)
100 free – Caeleb Dressel (40.00)

ALL-AMERICA HONORS
Caeleb Dressel (7) – 50 free, 100 free, 100 fly, 200 free relay, 400 medley relay, 200 medley relay, 400 free relay
Jan Switkowski (7) – 800 free relay, 200 free relay, 400 medley relay, 400 free relay, 200 IM (honorable mention), 200 free (honorable mention), 200 fly (honorable mention)
Mark Szaranek (5) – 200 IM, 400 IM, 800 free relay, 200 medley relay, 400 free relay
Jack Blyzinskyj (3) – 200 free relay, 400 medley relay, 200 medley relay
Mitch D'Arrigo (3) – 800 free relay, 500 free (honorable mention), 1650 free (honorable mention)
Maxime Rooney (3) – 200 free, 800 free relay, 400 free relay
Chandler Bray (2) – 400 medley relay, 200 medley relay
Enzo Martinez-Scarpe (1) – 200 free relay

SCHOOL RECORDS
800 free relay (Jan Switkowski, Maxime Rooney, Mitch D'Arrigo, Mark Szaranek) – 6:09.30
200 free relay (Caeleb Dressel, Jan Switkowski, Enzo Martinez-Scarpe, Jack Blyzinskyj) – 1:14.88
*100 fly (Caeleb Dressel) – 43.58
400 IM (Mark Szaranek) – 3:36.31
200 medley relay (Jack Blyzinskyj, Chandler Bray, Mark Szaranek, Caeleb Dressel) – 1:23.08
*100 free (Caeleb Dressel) – 40.00
400 free relay (Caeleb Dressel, Jan Switkowski, Maxime Rooney, Mark Szaranek) – 2:46.21
*also American, NCAA and U.S. Open records

SATURDAY NIGHT'S ACTION
1650 free
Four Gators competed in the early heats of the mile prior to the day's finals. Mitch D'Arrigo touched first for Florida at 14:38.40, improving over seven seconds on his seed time, and Ben Lawless followed in 14:46.78 to cut off almost five seconds. Blake Manganiello was next in 14:53.68, while Andrew Brady rounded out the Gator contingent in 14:57.06.

Upon the conclusion of the fastest heat, which swam with the other final events tonight, Mitch D'Arrigo ended up placing ninth, Lawless 17^th, Manganiello 19^th and Andrew Brady 23^rd.

200 fly
In his third consolation final this week, Jan Switkowski put together a swim timing 1:41.61. The junior performed solidly this week, winning two of his three B-finals.

400 free relay
The Gators went with a lineup of Caeleb Dressel, Jan Switkowski, Maxime Rooney and Mark Szaranek to finish off the meet in the relay. Florida took second with a time of 2:46.21, breaking the record of 2:47.09 set at last month's SEC Championships.

TEAM STANDINGS (top 4 teams only)
1. Texas (542 points)
2. California (349 points)
3. Florida (294.5 points)
4. NC State (272.5 points)

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

FOLLOW THE GATORS
FloridaGators.com
Twitter
Instagram
Facebook