Gators Drop First Dual to Missouri

Friday, October 18

Columbia, MO

10:30 AM

Florida Gators

109.5

190.5

#13 Missouri

Robert Finke won both distance events against Missouri with new season-best swims.

Gators Drop First Dual to Missouri

Friday, October 18, 2019 | Men's Swimming & Diving

By: Ryan Sosic

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 7 Gator men's swimming and diving team lost its first meet of the season by a final tally of 190.5-109.5 to No. 13 Missouri at the Mizzou Aquatic Center.

The Gators were led by sophomores Robert Finke and Kieran Smith, last year's SEC Co-Freshman Swimmers of the Year.

Finke would register two victories, sweeping both distance events.

In the 1,000 free, the sophomore would beat the field by almost 10 seconds with his season-best effort of 9:02.26. Finke would go on to win the 500 free with a season-best swim as well, posting a time of 4:26.25.

Smith would set or tie two personal-bests in the conference opener.

This week's SEC Men's Swimmer of the Week would post the fastest swim in the 100 free with a time of 44.07, matching a new personal-best he set last Friday against the Gophers. The swim is currently the tenth-fastest in the NCAA up to this point in the season.

In the 100 back, Smith posted a runner-up bid with a new personal-best effort of 48.07 and added another second-place finish after finishing just .07 seconds from the leader in the 200 IM (B-cut).

Series History

The loss puts the all-time series at a deadlock at 1-1. With the 190.5-109.5 win, the Tigers won just the second matchup between the two programs, which have both been in Columbia.

In the two matchups, the Tigers have outscored the Gators 320.5 –278.5
.
Gator Splashes

Rounding out the top-three in the 1,000 free behind Finke were the freshmen pair of Brennan Gravley and Kevin Vargas. Gravley would hit the wall in 9:13.31 with Vargas not far behind him with a swim of 9:15.81.
The 200 breast featured two new season-bests by Marco Guarente and Chandler Bray. Guarente would win the event in 1:59.95 with Bray notching second-place in a time of 2:02.61. This is Guarente's fifth individual win this season.
In the 50 free, Will Davis hit the wall with the second fastest time of 20.46. Last week at Minnesota, he posted the identical time and finished in second-place behind teammate Eric Friese
Dillon Hillis and Isaac Davis also posted a season-bests in the conference opener. Hillis swam in the 200 IM with Smith and hit the wall in 1:51.57, beating his previous best by .38 seconds. Isaac Davis would finish fourth in the 100 fly with a time of 48.69, besting his 48.77 swim last week in Minneapolis.
Khader Baqlah came up short in the 200 free by less than a second, finishing in 1:36.75 and earning a B-cut. This is the first time he has competed in the event this season.
Nick Lydon and Nicholas Carlin both posted top-five finishes on the 1 and 3-meter. Carlin would tally a 1-meter score of 265.88 (fourth) and a 3-meter score of 280.58, good for fifth. Lydon would post a fifth-place finish on the 1-meter (252.65), while notching fourth with a score of 285.38.
The Gators walked away empty-handed in the relays for the first time this season. In the first relay of the meet, the 200 medley relay team of Dakota Mahaffey, Guarente, Friese and Will Davis finished with a combined swim of 1:28.14, as Will Davis had the fastest split of 19.67. In the final event of the meet, the Gators posted a combined 400 free swim of 2:58.24 as the team of Baqlah, Clark Beach, Isaac Davis and Kieran Smith came in second-place.

Quotables

Head coach Anthony Nesty- "Our men fought hard against the season's first SEC opponent today. It is extremely early in the year and we will continue to press forward enthusiastically with our training as planned. I am confident our men are invested in our team goals and today's competition only serves to heighten those future ambitions. Our men know exactly what they need to focus on and they are enormously committed. I am very proud of every one of them! I want to thank our support staff and our administration for their passionate and continual support. It is GREAT to be a Florida Gator!"

Head Diving coach Bryan Gillooly- "With Senior Alex Farrow not competing, we were a little short-handed on the men's side but (Nick) Lydon and (Nick) Carlin got some good experience and made a lot of really good adjustments that will pay off later in the season. With that being said, hats off to Missouri, who has some real talent on the men's side. I look forward to seeing them at the Auburn Invite."

Looking Ahead:

Florida will look to bounce back from their first loss of the season with a pair of home meets inside the Stephen C. O'Connell to conclude the dual portion of 2019.

No. 15 Georgia will travel into the O'Dome for the Gators' home opener on Nov. 1 at 11:00 a.m. followed by a visit by No. 17 Florida State for the annual Fresh from Florida Sunshine Showdown at 2 p.m., which will serve as the final dual meet of 2019.

2019 will conclude with the Georgia Tech Invitational on Nov. 22-24 while Florida's divers will compete at the Auburn Diving Invitational on Dec. 17-19.

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