SEC Swimmers and Divers of the Week Named

BIRMINGHAM, Ala, February 3. THE SEC Office published the conference swimmers and divers this afternoon, naming athletes from Florida, Tennessee and Auburn.

University of Florida junior Zach Wilcox (Yarrow Point, Wash.) and freshman Leah Returm (Columbus, Ind.) were named the Southeastern Conference's Diver and Swimmer of the Week Tuesday afternoon.

Wilcox posted two NCAA zone qualifying scores and won the one-meter for the ninth time this season in helping Florida defeat No. 13 Tennessee on the road last week. He posted his 20th and 21st zone qualifying scores of the season in winning the one-meter (345.90) and taking third on the three-meter (343.35). On the season, Wilcox has posted zone scores 21 of the 21 times he's dived and has 14 wins to his credit. The honor is the second in as many weeks for Wilcox and the third of his career.

Against Tennessee, Retrum swam a lead-off time of 27.70 in the 200-yard medley relay en route to a first-place finish for the Gators. She swam an NCAA automatic qualifying time in the 200-yard backstroke to win the event in 1:58.00. Her time also was a career-best. Retrum also swam the 200-yard freestyle in a career-best time of 1:51.36, good enough for a fourth-place finish. She has one automatic qualifying time and eight provisional times this season, along with four wins in the backstroke. Retrum also has qualified for the Olympic Trials this season in the 200 backstroke.

After sweeping both diving event titles in a 129-103 loss to Florida on Saturday, Jan. 31, Tennessee junior Lauryn McCalley (Moultrie, Ga.) was chosen as the Southeastern Conference Diver of the Week on Tuesday.

“Lauryn has been training diligently and consistently all season long,” Diving Coach Dave Parrington said. “This has resulted in a high standard of competitive performance week-in and week-out during a particularly busy January meet schedule against a very high level of competition each time out. I am proud and pleased she has been honored with this award, which I honestly believe she fully deserves.”

The strong performer becomes the first member of Parrington’s squad to earn the conference citation this year. Against the Gators, McCalley swept both the one-meter and three-meter springboard titles from the Florida Gators. The three-meter mark of 321.52 was the ninth-best sequence of dives in school history. She also turned in a 300.97 on the one-meter. Her title sweep represents the third time she has accomplished that feat during the season for the Lady Vols. Additionally, the pair of title crowns brings her season total to eight.

Auburn junior middle distance freestyle specialist BJ Jones was named the Southeastern Conference Men's Swimmer of the Week, the conference office announced on Tuesday morning.

Jones earned the award following a dominating performance during the top-ranked Tigers' dual meet with SEC foe Kentucky. The LaGrange, Ga., native began his meet by breaking the school record in the 1000 freestyle by over five seconds, clocking a 9:01.07. James Galloway had held the school record for just over a year at 9:06.48.

Jones was not done there, however, as he also won the 100 freestyle in a time of 45.12, almost a full second over the second-place finisher.

Both of Jones' times from the Tigers' final dual meet of the season rank in the top-10 in the conference with the 1000 representing the fastest time in the SEC this year and the second-fastest in the nation.

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