Florida Wins Georgia Tech Invitational Behind Braswell’s Nation-Leading Swim

Sunday, November 24

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Florida Gators

Georgia Tech Invitational

Leah Braswell swam the third-fastest 1,650 free time in UF history and the fastest time in the nation up to this point of the season during Sunday's finals.

Florida Wins Georgia Tech Invitational Behind Braswell’s Nation-Leading Swim

Sunday, November 24, 2019 | Women's Swimming & Diving

By: Ryan Sosic

Full Meet Results | Full Day Three Results

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Leah Braswell's nation-leading 1,650 free swim on the final day of the Georgia Tech Invitational guided No. 1 Florida to win the three-day event with 1,211 points.

The Gators led at the conclusion of all three days of competition, with North Carolina finishing in second-place with 1,051.5 points.

Last season, Florida completed the same feat, winning the event after keeping the lead the entire duration of competition in Atlanta. Since 1998, UF has won this event five times.

For the third consecutive day, the team would set at least one new top-10 program swim.

Braswell beat the field in the 1,650 free by 16 seconds after posting an A-cut and personal-best time of 15:47.85. The time is the third-fastest time in school history. Her previous best set last year at SEC Championships was fifth-best all-time prior to today.

Additionally, the time is the fastest in the NCAA up to this point of the season by 10 seconds.

The 400 free relay team of Bella Garofalo, Sherridon Dressel, Emma Ball and Talia Bates combined for the ninth-fastest swim in program history as the group posted an effort of 3:15.22. Ball and Bates posted identical splits of 48.52 to lead UF.

Florida found overall success in the 100 free, posting six new personal-bests in both the prelims and finals. Garofalo posted the fastest time of the group in the prelims, notching a B-cut with her effort of 49.09. Bates would drop .43 seconds to finish the finals in 49.24, a new career-best effort and meeting the B-cut standard.

Gators Splashes

Kelly Fertel and Savanna Faulconer also set a new personal-bests in the last final session of the weekend.
- In the 200 breast final, Fertel placed fourth with her swim of 2:11.67. Her previous best of 2:12.11 was set last season at the Georgia Tech Invite.
- Faulconer produced a new personal-best in the 200 fly with her 12th-place finish of 1:59.92. The swim was .84 seconds off her prelim time, which broke a new best swim.
Ball (49.49), Kirschtine Balbuena (50.22), Kathleen Golding (50.52), Ria Malhotra (51.50) and Kalie Novosedliak (52.61) joined Garofalo and Bates in setting new career-best swims in the 100 free.
Dressel cut .58 seconds off her 100 back preliminary time to finish in third-place (1:54.56) in the final. Rosie Zavaros joined her in the event and finished in sixth. Both Gators notched B-cuts.
- Celi Guzman (1:57.49), Georgia Darwent (1:59.62) and Madison Conway (2:02.30) all joined the pair in the finals. Bates had her 1:58.50 time in the preliminaries exhibitioned, but was a lifetime-best.
Ellie Zweifel, Allie Piccirillo and Tylor Mathieu all joined group of Gators to set new lifetime bests. Zweifel registered a time of 2:08.02 in the 200 breast, while Piccirillo (1:58.42) notched a B-Cut in the 200 fly prelims. Mathieu notched an effort of 2:17.44 in the 200 breast, faster than her previous best at Missouri.
Three other Gators joined Braswell in the 1,650 free to post four of the top-ten finishes. Taylor Ault (third) and Mathieu (fifth) both notched B-Cuts, while Georgia Darwent finished in 16:38.46, good for seventh-place.
For the first time this season, Florida's divers competed on the platform, placing three in the top-ten. Ashley McCool finished highest for UF, placing fifth with an overall score of 229.95. Emma Whitner finished in eighth-place with an overall tally of 218.55 and Abigail Howell rounded out the top-ten with his score of 208.80. Additionally, in the preliminaries, Emma Whitner notched her qualifying zone score on the platform.

Quotables

Head coach Jeff Poppell- "I'm really proud of our women and how they competed over the last three days. Tonight's session may have been the best one of the meet for us, highlighted by Leah Braswell's A cut in the 1,650 Freestyle. This completes the fall portion of our schedule and now we will direct our efforts toward semester exams and a great month of training in December. Go Gators!"

Head diving coach Bryan Gillooly- "Getting three more (finishers) in the top-10 on platform was a good showing since we have really just started training up there a few weeks ago. The highlight of the day was Emma Whitner making her zone score in the exhibition platform event. That means all six women are qualified."

Final Team Scores

Team (Place)	Points
Florida (1st)	1211
North Carolina (2nd)	1051.5
Alabama (3rd)	934
Florida State (4th)	561.5
Georgia Tech (5th)	527
South Carolina (6th)	521
Utah (7th)	366
East Carolina (8th)	333
Georgia Southern (9th)	134
Virginia (10th)	117

What's Next

The invitational marked the final competition for the swimmers in 2019.

Florida's divers will compete in the Auburn Diving Invitational in Alabama on Dec. 17-19.

The Gators will be back in action on Jan. 3 in Gainesville when they host a quad-meet with Vanderbilt, Liberty and North Florida at the O'Connell Center Natatorium at 2 p.m.

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