No. 1 Gators Remain Undefeated in Home Opener with No. 12 Bulldogs

Friday, November 1

Gainesville, FL

11 AM

Florida Gators

164.5

135.5

#12 Georgia

Emma Ball won the 100 back with her time of 53.86 and notched a B-cut.

No. 1 Gators Remain Undefeated in Home Opener with No. 12 Bulldogs

Friday, November 1, 2019 | Women's Swimming & Diving

By: Ryan Sosic

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 1 University of Florida (6-0) women's swimming and diving team came out on top over the No. 12 Georgia with a 164.5-135.5 win in their home opener inside the Stephen C. O'Connell Center Natatorium.

Florida produced an all-around team effort, winning seven individual events and a pair of relays en route to their sixth-straight victory to start off the season. This marks the best dual start to a campaign since the 2002-03 Gators that got off to an 9-0 start.

The Gators come away with two wins against Georgia today. 🐊 swimming and diving is now a combined 11-1 on the season. #GoGators #WeChomp pic.twitter.com/GNfA9XnULy
— Gators Swimming & Diving (@GatorsSwimDv) November 1, 2019

Leah Braswell started the Gators off on the right note in the first individual event, winning the 1,000 free in a new personal-best time of 9:45.74, which stands as the second-fastest time in the country this season. She set a previous top swim of 9:49.24 against Minnesota on Oct. 11.

Rosie Zavaros registered 13 points as she would win the 200 back, hitting the wall in 1:55.57. The sophomore also finished runner-up in the 100 back with a swim of 54.63.

The Gators got a push in the 50 and 100 free by Bella Garofalo, who tallied 10.5 points in the conference dual. Garofalo tied for the top time in the 50 free with a season-best effort of 22.87 and also finished just .11 from the top time in the 100 with a season-best swim of 49.76.

Kelly Fertel notched a pair of B-cuts in the 200 IM and the 200 breast as she finished runner-up in three total events in the dual.

Elizabeth Perez led the way on the board for the Gators, picking up her first pair of victories on the year. On the 1-meter, she tallied a score of 286.28 and a score of 299.25 on the 3-meter.

Series History

With the win, the Gators have now won two duals in a row against the Bulldogs for the first time since 1996-97 when UF had won 12 straight duals over the Bulldogs.

Last season, UF broke an 11-meet losing streak against UGA last season with their 158-142 win in Athens.

This year's meeting marked the eighteenth-consecutive year the two programs squared off in a dual meet.

Gator Splashes

Emma Ball picked up her second individual victory of the season with a swim of 53.86 in the 100 back. Teammates Rosie Zavaros and Celi Guzman rounded-out the top three behind her, just .77 seconds apart. All times were season-bests and Ball's time secured her a B-cut.
Sherridon Dressel won the 100 fly by less than a full second with a time of 53.95. The senior would go on to produce two more top-three finishes in the 50 and 100 free.
Just missing a personal-best and season-best swim by .06 seconds, Kathleen Golding registered a runner-up bid in the 500 free with a time of 4:50.31. The freshman would also finish in third-place in the 200 free.
Vanessa Pearl tallied a trio of third-place finishes in the 100 breast, 200 breast and 200 IM. The sophomore would finish less than a second behind Fertel in the 200 breast.
Abigail Howell hit a new season-best in her second-place finish in the 1-meter, registering a mark of 265.73. She would go on to finish in third in the 3-meter with her score of 291.60

Relay Magic

The Gators continued to best their opponent in relays, picking up wins in both events on the day.

Ball, Pearl, Talia Bates and Garofalo took home the first event of the dual as the 200 medley relay team combined for a swim of 1:40.26, besting the Bulldog's top relay by .95 seconds.

In the 400 free relay, the Florida's fastest team of Dressel, Bates, Golding and Garofalo picked up the win with a combined time of 3:19.61, which was three full seconds faster than the runner-up time posted by the Bulldogs.

Quotables

Head coach Jeff Poppell – "It was an outstanding team effort today against a strong Georgia team. We received contributions from so many different individuals on our roster from freshmen to seniors, swimmers and divers. I'm really happy for our seniors who were able to enjoy back to back wins against Georgia for the first time since 1997. Their leadership this season has been nothing short of superb."

Head Diving coach Bryan Gillooly- " On the women's side, we were going into the meet a little short-handed because of some injuries. I was pleased to see how they responded. They really rose to the occasion and did what they need to do for the team. Elizabeth (Perez) getting a couple wins and Abby (Howell) making her zone score was great to see."

Looking Ahead:

The Gators will look to stay undefeated when they host Florida State in the Fresh From Florida Sunshine Showdown next Friday, Nov. 8 at 2:00 p.m. The dual will serve as the team's final dual competition of 2019.

Florida will finish off 2019 with a pair of invitationals as the swimmers will travel to Atlanta in the Georgia Tech Invitational on Nov. 22-24. The divers will then travel to Auburn to compete in the Auburn Diving Invite on Dec. 17-19.

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