Friday, October 11
Minneapolis, MN
7:00 PM
Florida Gators
at
Minnesota
No. 7 Florida Prepared for Dual Meet with Minnesota
Thursday, October 10, 2019 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Pre-Meet Notes
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 7 Florida Gators men's swimming and diving program will be back in the pool against non-conference opponent Minnesota on Friday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m.
Coming off a 2018-19 season that saw UF win their seventh-straight Southeastern Conference title, the Gators haven't slowed down, winning their first three meets of the 2019-20 campaign over Nova Southeastern, Indian River and FAU.
This season marks the first 3-0 start for the men's program since the undefeated 2013-14 team.
Five Gators (three swimmers and two divers) posted new personal-bests to start off the new year.
Alex Farrow and Nick Lydon both hit new career-bests on the 1-meter while Robert Finke (200 free), Khader Baqlah (200 IM) and Clark Beach (200 back) all hit the wall in the fastest time of their careers in their respective events.
Series History
The No. 7 Gators and Gophers will meet up for the eighth-time in the two program's history. Florida leads the all-time series 6-1, including winning the last four. The first matchup between the two teams came in 2003-2004 when the Gators squeaked by the Gophers 123-120. In 2004-2005, both teams were ranked in the top-10 and the Gators ultimately picked up a 153-146 win. The only loss UF has taken was during the 2006-07 season when the Gophers won 161-139.
Looking at the Gophers
Friday will mark the opening of the 2019-20 season for the Gophers. Last year, the team posted a 19th-place finish at the NCAA Tournament and a fifth-place nod at the Big Ten Championships. In the regular season, they tallied an overall record of 7-2 and a conference mark of 4-1.
The team's major departure is All-American Bowe Becker (graduation), but will look to their three All-American returners in Max McHugh, Tom Donker and Tuomas Pokkinen to help carry the load and build off a solid 2018-19 season.
Quotables
Head coach Anthony Nesty- "After a good start of the season, I'm excited to get back into the pool. It'll be good to get on the road and compete against an opponent we don't get to see very often. Hopefully the training and effort we've been putting in during practice over the last 13 days will show when we face Minnesota."
Head Diving coach Bryan Gillooly- "Minnesota is always one of the top diving teams in the NCAA and has been for a long time. It will be a great experience to go outside of the SEC and dive against some great talent. It's early in the year so we aren't as sharp as we expect to be an a few months but diving in an excellent facility against really good competition is the perfect way to really get things moving in the right direction."
Looking Ahead
Florida will swim against three ranked opponents before hitting team invitationals at the end of December to conclude 2019.
Next on the docket for the Gators will be their fifth-straight away meet against conference foe No. 13 Missouri on the 18th. They will then return home for two straight home meets inside the Stephen O'Connell Center on Nov. 1 against No. 15 Georgia and Nov. 8 against No. 17 Florida State.
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| FloridaGators.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook |
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 7 Florida Gators men's swimming and diving program will be back in the pool against non-conference opponent Minnesota on Friday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m.
Coming off a 2018-19 season that saw UF win their seventh-straight Southeastern Conference title, the Gators haven't slowed down, winning their first three meets of the 2019-20 campaign over Nova Southeastern, Indian River and FAU.
This season marks the first 3-0 start for the men's program since the undefeated 2013-14 team.
Five Gators (three swimmers and two divers) posted new personal-bests to start off the new year.
Alex Farrow and Nick Lydon both hit new career-bests on the 1-meter while Robert Finke (200 free), Khader Baqlah (200 IM) and Clark Beach (200 back) all hit the wall in the fastest time of their careers in their respective events.
Series History
The No. 7 Gators and Gophers will meet up for the eighth-time in the two program's history. Florida leads the all-time series 6-1, including winning the last four. The first matchup between the two teams came in 2003-2004 when the Gators squeaked by the Gophers 123-120. In 2004-2005, both teams were ranked in the top-10 and the Gators ultimately picked up a 153-146 win. The only loss UF has taken was during the 2006-07 season when the Gophers won 161-139.
Looking at the Gophers
Friday will mark the opening of the 2019-20 season for the Gophers. Last year, the team posted a 19th-place finish at the NCAA Tournament and a fifth-place nod at the Big Ten Championships. In the regular season, they tallied an overall record of 7-2 and a conference mark of 4-1.
The team's major departure is All-American Bowe Becker (graduation), but will look to their three All-American returners in Max McHugh, Tom Donker and Tuomas Pokkinen to help carry the load and build off a solid 2018-19 season.
Quotables
Head coach Anthony Nesty- "After a good start of the season, I'm excited to get back into the pool. It'll be good to get on the road and compete against an opponent we don't get to see very often. Hopefully the training and effort we've been putting in during practice over the last 13 days will show when we face Minnesota."
Head Diving coach Bryan Gillooly- "Minnesota is always one of the top diving teams in the NCAA and has been for a long time. It will be a great experience to go outside of the SEC and dive against some great talent. It's early in the year so we aren't as sharp as we expect to be an a few months but diving in an excellent facility against really good competition is the perfect way to really get things moving in the right direction."
Looking Ahead
Florida will swim against three ranked opponents before hitting team invitationals at the end of December to conclude 2019.
Next on the docket for the Gators will be their fifth-straight away meet against conference foe No. 13 Missouri on the 18th. They will then return home for two straight home meets inside the Stephen O'Connell Center on Nov. 1 against No. 15 Georgia and Nov. 8 against No. 17 Florida State.
Follow the Gators:
| FloridaGators.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook |
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
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