No. 4/10 Ranked Gators Head to Atlanta for Georgia Tech Invitational

Thursday, November 15

Atlanta, GA

All Day

Florida Gators

Georgia Tech Invitational

No. 4/10 Ranked Gators Head to Atlanta for Georgia Tech Invitational

Wednesday, November 14, 2018 | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving

By: Chad Smith

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The University of Florida men's and women's swimming & diving teams are back in the pool after a week off. The two teams are on the road in Atlanta, Georgia, for the Georgia Tech Invitational. The invitational begins on Thursday, Nov. 15 and concludes on Saturday, Nov. 17.

The last time the men's team competed at the Georgia Tech Invitational they placed second in 2016. The UF men had the lead after the first day of competition, but were unable to catch Alabama. On the women's side, Florida finished in second place behind Auburn.

The Florida women have already seen two of this weekend's opponents this season, Florida Gulf Coast and Florida State. The Gators defeated both the Eagles and Seminoles in dual meets. Auburn is an opponent that UF will see later in the season.

On the men's side, the Gators defeated Florida State earlier this year. Florida will face Auburn again in a dual match later in the campaign.

The No. 10 ranked women feature eight athletes with a combined 17 Top-25 times on the season. The Gators hold four of the Top-25 times in the 400 IM in the NCAA this season, which is the most by any program. Kelly Fertel leads the group with the ninth-best time, followed closely by Hannah Burns in 10th and Vanessa Pearl in 11th. Mabel Zavaros ranks 21st. Fertel and Pearl come in with Top-25 times in the 200 IM as well. Fertel has the 14th-best time, while Pearl sits in the No. 17 spot.

Taylor Ault and Leah Braswell are providing depth in the long-distance races. In the 500 free, Ault ranks 19th and Braswell ranks 24th. Ault holds the 16th-best time in the 1,000 Free, while Braswell ranks 20th.

Pearl has Top-25 times in both the 100 Breast and the 200 Breast. She sits at No. 14 in the 200 Breast and No. 25 in the 100 Breast. Mabel Zavaros has the 16th-fastest time in the 200 Back and the 21st-best swim in the 100 Fly. Emma Ball and Sherridon Dressel rank 13th and 22nd, respectively, in the 100 Back. Dressel has the 23rd-best time in the 100 Free.

The No. 4 ranked men are led by 11 athletes who have posted a total of 22 Top-25 times this season. Kieran Smith finds himself inside the Top-25 in five different events. He has the eighth-best swim in the 400 IM, eighth-fastest time in the 200 Free, ranks ninth in the 200 IM, 19th in the 1,000 Free, and 21st in the 500 Free.

Khader Baqlah has four Top-25 times each. Baqlah has the third-fastest time in the 200 Free, 11th-best swim in the 100 Free, 12th-best mark in the 1,000 Free, and the 19th-best time in the 500 Free.

Grant Sanders has Top-25 times in three different events, the 200 IM (4th), 400 IM (9th), and 200 Breast (20th). Maxime Rooney holds the 16th-best and 19th-best times in the 200 Free and 100 Fly, respectively. Trey Freeman has the 11th-best swim in the 1,000 Free and 23rd-best mark in the 500 Free.

Kacper Stokowski (fifth, 100 Back), Bayley Main (20th, 100 Back), Robert Finke (11st, 1,000 Free), Clark Beach (22nd, 200 Back), Marco Guarente (23rd, 200 Breast), and Stanley Wu (25th, 100 Breast) round out the Gators with Top-25 times this season.

Event Schedule
(in order of event, prelims start each day at 10 a.m. ET, finals begin at 5:30 p.m. ET)

Thursday, Nov. 15	Friday, Nov. 16	Saturday, Nov. 17
200 Free Relay	200 Medley Relay	1,650 Free
500 Free	400 IM	200 Back
200 IM	100 Fly	100 Free
50 Free	200 Free	200 Breast
Women's diving	100 Breast	200 Fly
Men's diving	100 Back	Platform diving
400 Medley Relay	Women's diving	400 Free Relay
	Men's diving
	800 Free Relay