Florida Tops Tennessee in Big SEC Battle

GAINESVILLE, Florida, February 2. THE Florida Gators' swimming and diving teams closed out their dual meet season with victories against SEC rival Tennessee on Friday's Senior Night. Sending off their seniors in style, the 7th ranked women upset the 4th ranked Vols by winning with a score of 167-133, while the 5th ranked Gator men won in dominant fashion with a score of 208-92.

UF's men improved to 7-0 overall and 5-0 in the SEC, while the women are 3-4 and 2-3 in the SEC. The win for the Gator men solidified their undefeated season, the second-straight year they have not dropped a dual meet.

To kick things off, the Gator women began the night with a sweep in the 1000 yard freestyle by claiming the top four spots. Leading the group was freshman Jessica Thielmann (Newcastle, England) who clocked in a time of 9:41.81. Junior Alicia Mathieu (Malborough, Conn.) touched second in 9:48.28, freshman Taylor Roy (Woodstock, Ga.) was third with a 9:53.44 and sophomore Jordan Smith (Longwood, Fla.) rounded out the top four in 9:54.44.

Senior Jamie Bohunicky (Gainesville, Fla.) began her last home meet as a Gator by swimming the 200 freestyle. In an exhilarating race to the wall, she was out touched by 0.14 tenths of a second; crushing her season best and posting an NCAA “B” standard qualifying time of 1:44.57. Bohunicky redeemed herself in the 500 free by winning the event with an NCAA “B” standard qualifying time of 4:39.93.

The 100 and 200 backstroke saw three Florida women post NCAA “B” qualifying times with freshman Sinead Russell (Burlington, Ontario) winning the 100 back with a time of 54.10 and junior Elizabeth Beisel (North Kingstown, R.I.) taking the 200 by stopping the clock at 1:57.69, while sophomore Ashlee Linn (Southfield, Mich.) followed closely behind with a mark of 1:58.12.

Beisel and Russell also finished one and two on the 200 IM with times of 1:59.70 and 2:00.83. Both were NCAA “B” qualifying standard marks and the time was a season best for Russell.

Freshman Nathalie Hinds (Midland, Texas) added another pair of victories to her career by taking the top spots in both the 50 and 100 free, posting NCAA “B” qualifying standard marks for both; with times of 22.74 and 49.02, respectively.

With a few sweeps of their own, the Florida men took the top three spots in both the 1000 and 200 yards freestyle. Freshman Arthur Frayler (Fort Washington, Pa.) touched the wall first in the 1000 with a season best time of 9:02.88. Behind him were sophomores Thomas Veale (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) in 9:05.74 and William Silva (Gainesville, Fla.) with a 9:05.97 who also clocked in their best times of the season.

In the 200 freestyle, junior Marcin Cieslak (Warsaw, Poland) won in thrilling fashion posting an NCAA “B” standard qualifying time of 1:37.85. Sophomore Dan Wallace (North Berwick, Scotland) and freshman Justin Kaisrlik (Clermont, Fla.) finished second (1:38.40) and third (1:39.12) respectively.

Senior Jason Taylor (Plant City, Fla.), finished his last home meet as a Florida Gator by stopping the clock first in the 500 freestyle with an NCAA “B” standard qualifying time of 4:24.37. Silva (4:27.01) and Veale (4:29.58) took second and third place, thus producing another sweep for the Gator men.

The victories kept coming as the Gators touched the wall first in the 100 backstroke and the 100 and 200 breaststroke. In the 100 back, freshman Corey Main out-touched Tennessee's Samuel Rairden to finish first and post an NCAA “B” standard qualifying and season best time of 48.38. Sophomore Matt Elliot (Peoria, Ill.) also claimed the top spots and posted NCAA “B” qualifying times in both the 100 (54.97) and the 200 (1:59.09) breaststroke.

In the 200 butterfly, redshirt junior Sebastian Rosseau (Cape Town, South Africa) got another sweep started taking the top spot with an NCCA “B” qualifying time of 1:45.34. Sophomore Connor Signorin (East Windsor, N.J.) was second, finishing with a season best time of 1:48.06. Senior Cameron Martin (Clearwater, Fla.) took the third spot clocking in a time of 1:48.15. Rosseau also finished first in the 100 fly, swimming a season best time of 48.74.

The 50 freestyle saw another NCAA “B” qualifying stand mark surpassed with junior Brad deBorde (Longwood, Fla.) winning the event with a time of 19.88, while the100 freestyle, had sophomore Pawel Werner (Wroclaw, Poland) finishing on top (44.09) and deBorde (44.46) taking the second spot. Werner's time was yet another NCAA “B” standard qualifying time the Gators achieved on the night. Sophomore Carlos Omana (Miami, Fla.) added another victory by touching the wall first in the 200 IM with a season best time of 1:47.93.

The Florida diving team also contributed to the win with a pair of victories in the 1-meter board, where senior Sean Saley (Pompano Beach, Fla.) took the top spot with a season best score of 338.11 in front of family and friends on his last home meet representing the Orange and Blue. Fellow Gator, Chris Jones (Palm City, Fla.) took second place with a score of 318.75. On the women's side, freshman Kahlia Warner also claimed first place scoring a season best 297.75.

Before the meet the Gators honored their nine seniors, Rodion Davelaar (Willestad, Netherlands), Jackson Leonard (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), Cameron Martin (Clearwater, Fla.), Sean Saley (Pompano Beach, Fla.), Jason Taylor (Plant City, Fla.), Jamie Bohunicky (Gainesville, Fla.), Sarra Lajnef (Tunis, Tunisia), Sharla Milne (Lithia, Fla.) and Corinne Showalter (Sarasota, Fla.).

Next, the Florida Gators head to College Station, Texas for the Southeastern Conference Championships from February 19th to the 23rd.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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