Finke Scorches 1,650 American, NCAA Record on Final Day of SEC’s

Robert Finke is now the American Record holder in the 1,650 free, smashing the previous-best by six full seconds.

Finke Scorches 1,650 American, NCAA Record on Final Day of SEC’s

Sunday, February 23, 2020 | Men's Swimming & Diving

By: Ryan Sosic

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AUBURN, Ala—Robert Finke became the fastest 1,650 free swimmer in American history on Saturday night to help Florida win the 2020 Southeastern Conference at the campus of Auburn University.

Finke's time of 14:12.08 destroyed the previous American Record held by Zane Grothe (14:18.25) by a full six seconds and the previous NCAA record of 14:22.41 by ten full seconds

He now holds the American, NCAA, US Open, SEC and Florida 1,650 free record.

Finke's previous-best was set in a time of 14:23.01 at last year's SEC Championships in Athens, Ga.

Florida would go on to claim three more medals on the final day to extend its conference title streak to eight in a row.

Clark Beach reeled in his first individual medal of the week in runner-up fashion with a swim of 1:39.56, good for a silver.

Trio of bronze medals by Gravley (1,650 free) Smith (100 free) and Sanders (200 breast) closed out action for the group from Auburn.

Gravley joined Finke in the mile and set a new personal-best swim of 14:47.71, good for seventh-fastest time in school history.

Smith's third individual medal of the week came in the 100 free, as the 2020 SEC Swimmer of the Meet touched in a new lifetime-best of 42.14, good for third-place and the fourth-fastest in school history.

Sanders would close things out with the bronze in a lifetime-best as well, touching in the breast event in the second-fastest effort in school history of 1:52.49.

Gator Splashes

The 400 free relay of Khader Baqlah, Eric Friese, Will Davis and Smith combined for a swim of 2:50.40. The time gave the group a fourth-place finish and the seventh-fastest time in program history.
Another top-five Gator swim was taken down by Marco Guarente, who finished the 200 breast A-final in a sixth-place effort of 1:53.34. The time is a full second faster than her previous top swim.
Joining Smith in the 100 free A-final was Khader Baqlah, who tied for seventh-place with his effort of 42.66.
Chandler Bray took to the water in the men's 200 breast B-final, tallying a new season-best swim of 1:55.94, good for fourth-place.
The 200 back B-final featured Ethan Beach, who touched in second-place with a swim of 1:42.38.
The duo of Miguel Cancel and Tyler Silver hit the water in the 200 back C-final, with Cancel leading the way with a new personal-best swim of 1:43.14 (14^th-overall). Tyler Silver finished in 23^rd with a time of 1:46.19.
Matthew Anderson with the third and final Gator to tally a new 1,650 free time as he touched in 16th-place with a swim of 15:11.29.
A pair of freshmen ended their first career conference championships with new personal-bests in C-finals as Kevin Vargas placed second with his 200 breast swim of 1:56.62, and Eric Friese touched in the 100 free in an effort of 43.14.

Standings

1. Florida- 1,194
2. Texas A&M-975.5
3. Georgia- 953.5
4. Alabama- 935.5
5. Missouri- 846.5
6. Tennessee- 817
7. Kentucky- 724
8. Auburn- 697
9. LSU- 517
10. South Carolina- 504

What's Next

As the team heads back to Gainesville, Florida swimmers will get a full month off before their next competition- the 2020 NCAA Championships. The meet will take place from March 25-28 in Indianapolis, Ind.

The divers will be back in action at NCAA Diving Zones, beginning on March 9 and lasting until the 11th.

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