Gators Take Command of Tri-Meet; Defeat Nova Southeastern and Indian River

Friday, September 27

Fort Lauderdale, FL

3:00 PM

Florida Gators

209

Nova Southeastern University

Clark Beach started off the 2019-20 season with victories in the 200 free and 200 IM.

Gators Take Command of Tri-Meet; Defeat Nova Southeastern and Indian River

Friday, September 27, 2019 | Men's Swimming & Diving

Results

By: Ryan Sosic

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.— Fast swimming from start to finish allowed for the Gators men's swimming and diving team to take two demanding victories to begin the new season.

Florida outscored the host Nova Southeastern by a final score of 209-53 and Indian River by a tally of 219-43. This is the first-time in program history that Florida has opened with a tri-meet.

The Gators' returning All-Americans from last season showed out, combining for six victories.

Clark Beach led the way with wins in the 200 free and 200 IM, while Will Davis (50 free), Marco Guarente (100 breast), Khader Baqlah (200 fly) and Trey Freeman (500 free) all picked up an individual event win.

Tyler Silver and Ethan Beach each posted event wins to start off their season. Silver walked away in the top spot with a time of 49.87 and Beach won the 200 back by almost three seconds, finishing in 1:47.97.

In his collegiate debut, Kevin Vargas posted the fastest times in the 1,000 free and 200 breast. Fellow freshman Eric Friese also picked up a victory, posting a time of 48.59 in the 100 fly. Brennan Gravely swam in the 1,000 free with Vargas, finishing in second with his swim of 9:21.63.

The Gators posted the top-three times in both relays. C. Beach, Guarente, Smith and W. Davis won the opening event in a combined swim of 1:29.86 with Dakota Mahaffey, Chandler Bray, Isaac Davis and Jack Szaranek right behind them with a combined effort of 1:30.46.

Later in the last relay, Gerry Quinn, Baqlah, Depassier and Smith beat out the Gator group of W. Davis, Freeman, Dillon Hillis and Szaranek by less than two seconds to take home the 400 free relay victory.

Nick Lydon led the Gator's divers on the 1-meter, posting a score of 320.32. Alex Farrow (312.90) and Nick Carlin (309.52) finished in second and third.

In the 3-meter, Carlin took home the first-place nod, generating a score of 307.5 with Farrow right behind in second with a final tally of 290.4.

Gator Wins:
200 Medley Relay- Beach, Guarente, Smith, Davis
1,000 Free- Vargas
200 Free- Beach
100 Back- Silver
100 Breast- Guarente
200 Fly- Baqlah
50 Free- W. Davis
1-Meter- Lydon
100 Free- Smith
200 Back- E. Beach
200 Breast- Vargas
500 Free- Freeman
100 Fly- Friese
3-Meter- Carlin
200 IM- C. Beach
200 Free Relay- Quinn, Baqlah, Depassier and Smith

Personal Records:
Depassier: 50 Free (45.93)

Quotables:

Head coach Anthony Nesty- "It felt great for our guys to get back in the pool and pick up two victories to start off our season. Our numbers seemed to be at a good spot for this point in the season. We had contributions from returners and also from newcomers, which was nice to see. I'm excited to go up against FAU tomorrow and finish off this opening weekend of the season before getting almost two weeks to gear up for the next part of our schedule."

Up Next:
The Gators will wrap-up their opening weekend in South Florida against FAU at 10:00 a.m. at the FAU Aquatic Center.

Meet Results

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