Gators Produce International Success
Thursday, August 30, 2018 | Men's Swimming & Diving
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Caeleb Dressel, Conor Dwyer, Robert Finke, Mark Szaranek, Jan Switkowski, Kacper Stokowski, Erge Gezmis and Khader Baqlah all competed in international competition. These eight Florida athletes combined to appear in three separate international events: Asian Games, Pan Pacific Championships and European Championships.
Asian Games
Baqlah got the Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, started with a bang! He set a new Jordan record in the 200-meter freestyle with a time of 1:46.77. His record time earned him a fourth-place finish. He posted a time of 49.30 and won his heat of the 100-meter freestyle. He improved on his time in the finals, with a new personal best of 49.10 and placed fifth. He added a fifth-place finish in the 400-meter freestyle as he swam a 3:52.77.
Pan Pacs
Dressel, Dwyer and Finke competed at the Pan Pacific Championships in Tokyo, Japan, as members of Team USA.
Dressel collected five medals: Two gold, two silver and one bronze. He set a new Pan Pacs Championship record in the 100-meter butterfly with a time of 50.75, improving on his 51.69 qualifying time. Dressel's second gold came as a member of the 4x100-meter medley relay, where he was teamed with Ryan Murphy, Andrew Wilson and Nathan Adrian. The team posted a time of 3:30.20. Dressel placed second in the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 21.93, improving on his prelim time of 22.17. In the 100-meter freestyle, Dressel swam a 48.22 as he picked up his second silver medal. Dressel, along with Kathleen Baker, Michael Andrew and Simone Manuel, earned bronze in the 4x100-meter mixed medley relay with a combined time of 3:41.74.
Finke, an incoming freshman, produced a stellar performance. He posted the third-fastest time in the 1,500-meter freestyle, but due to rule of only two athletes from each country receiving medals, Finke was not rewarded the bronze. Finke's time of 14:48.70 in the 1,500m free was a new personal best. He added a strong swim in the 800-meter freestyle, where he posted the fifth-fastest time with a mark of 7:52.57. Finke set a new personal-best time with a time of 7:51.45 in the 400-meter freestyle was the eighth fastest time in prelims.
Dwyer notched the fifth-fastest time in the 400-meter freestyle with a swim of 3:48.60, which qualified him for the B Final. He went on to win the B Final with a time of 3:48.45. Dwyer finished the 200-meter freestyle prelims with a time of 1:46.84.
European Championships
Jan Switkowski and incoming freshman Kacper Stokowski represented Poland.
Switkowski led off the 4x100-meter freestyle for Poland, which earned a bronze medal with a time of 3:14.20. He placed sixth overall in the 200-meter butterfly with a swim of 1:56.53 in the final. Switkowski was a member of the 4x100-meter mixed freestyle relay team, which combined for a time of 3:29.62 and placed seventh. Switkowski reached the semi-finals of the 200-meter freestyle, where he placed fourth in his heat with a time of 1:47.77. He placed eighth in his semi-final heat of the 100-meter butterfly with a swim of 53.23.
Stokowski finished sixth in his semi-final heat of the 50-meter backstroke with a swim of 25.46. In the prelims of the 50-meter backstroke, he set a new personal-best swim of 25.22. He swam the first leg of the 4x100 mixed medley relay, which helped Poland finish with the sixth-fastest time in the prelims.
After he won his preliminary heat of the 200-meter individual medley and set a new personal-best time of 1:58.07, Szaranek reached the finals and placed fifth with a time of 1:58.88. He earned the 11th-fastet time in the 400-meter individual medley with a swim of 4:19.34. Szaranek represented Great Britain, which won a total of 24 medals.
Gezmis represented Turkey during the European Championships. He set a personal-best time in the 400-meter freestyle with a swim of 3:53.52. He finished third in his heat of the 200-meter freestyle and recorded a new personal-best time of 1:49.88.
Players Mentioned
