Day Two Prelims Results
AUBURN, Ala.— Five Gators qualified for Wednesday evening's finals session by posting a top-eight time in their respective event during the second preliminary session at the 2020 SEC Championships at the James E. Martin Aquatics Center in Auburn, Ala.
In total, 10 Florida swimmers will hit the pool in the finals on Wednesday night.
Florida started out with a bang as
Robert Finke and
Kieran Smith both produced top-ten program swims with new personal-best swims.
Finke produced the second-best time with his effort of 4:13.74, the seventh-fastest swim in school history as well as the eighth-fastest time this season.
Smith's fourth-place effort of 4:14.55 (lifetime-best) sits as the ninth-fastest swim produced by a Gator.
The third and final Florida distance representative in the final will be
Khader Baqlah, who tallied a mark of 4:15.56, good for sixth and a season-best.
The duo of
Grant Sanders and Dillion Hills both tallied an effort to qualify for the 200 IM A-Final.
In his third-place finish, Sanders produced a new personal-best swim of 1:43.38. Hillis finished in sixth, touching in 1:44.29.
Eric Friese,
Will Davis and
Isaac Davis all qualified for the evening's 50 free B-final. Friese led the way with a new collegiate-best effort of 19.50 (tenth-fastest).
Will Davis finished just .9 seconds behind him for a 12th-place finish, while
Isaac Davis joined Friese by setting a new collegiate best mark (19.63), good for 15th.
Jack Szaranek would join the group by also posting a new season-best 50 free swim, touching in 20.10.
The last evening qualifiers came in the 500 free as both
Brennan Gravley and
Matthew Anderson surpassed their previous personal-bests for a C-Final qualification. Gravley cut 3.82 seconds off his best, as Anderson shattered his time by 8.21 seconds.
Additional competitors in the 200 IM included
Marco Guarente,
Gerry Quinn,
Kevin Vargas and
Chandler Bray.
Guarente just missed a final appearance as the senior finished in 25
th with a time of 1:46.27. Quinn and Vargas weren't far behind him, finishing in 28
th-place (1:46.86) and 29
th (1:46.87), respectively.
Bray would go on to tally a time of 1:48.69, good for 37th.
In the lone diving event of the day,
Alex Farrow barely missed a finals qualification by three points on the 1-meter with his tally of 307.80.
Nick Lydon joined him and placed 21st with a mark of 273.95.
What's Next
Wednesday's finals will begin at 6:30 p.m. ET with the 200 free relay, followed by the A, B, and C-finals of the 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free and 1-meter.
Competition on Thursday will start at 10:30 a.m. ET with the 400 IM.
