Photo Credit: Peter H. Bick<\/p>\n
GAINESVILLE, Florida, October 10. Jessica Thielmann, Natalie Hinds and Caeleb Dressel each won two individual events to lead the University of Florida swimming and diving teams to a sweep of LSU on Friday night. The Gator women prevailed 166-134, while the men came out on top by a score of 162.5-122.5.<\/p>\n
The meet started off with a bang as the Florida women edged LSU in the 200 medley relay by just one one-hundredth of a second, 1:41.17 to 1:41.18. Sinead Russell, Lindsey McKnight, Sierra Kuhn and Natalie Hinds got the win for the Gators ahead of LSU’s Caley Oquist, Colleen O’Neil, Kara Kopcso and Amber Carter.<\/p>\n
Jessica Thielmann led a 1-2-3-4 sweep of the 1000 free for the Gators, as she touched first in 9:55.52. Taylor Roy (10:04.09) and Megan Rankin (10:10.09) also picked up points for Florida. Thielmann added a second win in the 500 free later in the meet, touching first in the 500 free in 4:49.02. In the 200 free, she finished second to Lindsey McKnight, who got to the wall first, 1:48.74 to 1:49.16.<\/p>\n
Florida sprint specialist Natalie Hinds also picked up a pair of wins for the Gators, stopping the clock in 22.66 in the 50 free and 49.47 in the 100 free, both strong early-season times.<\/p>\n
LSU’s Colleen O’Neil was the class of the field in the women’s breaststroke events tonight as she won both the 100 breast (1:02.52) and 200 breast (2:18.34) for the Tigers. Kara Kopcso also picked up a pair of victories for the Tigers in the 200 fly (1:58.34) and 200 IM (2:01.63). Amber Carter (100 fly, 53.89) also recorded a win for LSU.<\/p>\n
Sinead Russell (100 back, 54.18), Ashlee Linn (200 back, 1:58.08) and Georgia-Mae Hohmann (200 back, 1:58.08) also won events for the Florida women. Florida’s foursome of Lindsey McKnight, Alyssa Yambor-Maul, Natalie Hinds and Jessica Thielmann claimed the 400 free relay in 3:23.97.<\/p>\n
In the diving well, Florida’s Kahlia Warner won the 1-meter with 289.05 points, while LSU’s Cassie Weil won the 3-meter with 318.68 points.<\/p>\n
On the men’s side, freshman Caeleb Dressel led the Gator men with two individual wins. In the 50 free, Dressel cleared 20 seconds and won by more than a full second in 19.94. Later in the meet, he edged teammate Christian-Paul Homer in the 100 fly, 48.39 to 48.46.<\/p>\n
Several other Florida swimmers recorded wins at the meet. Nicholas Alexiou grabbed the first individual event of the meet with his 9:30.87 in the 1000 free, 13 seconds ahead of LSU’s Elliot Dewlen (9:43.89). Pawel Werner kept the ball rolling for the Gators in the next event, winning the 200 free by almost three seconds in 1:39.04.<\/p>\n
Jack Blyzinskyj (100 back, 48.67) and Eduardo Solaeche-Gomez (100 breast, 54.87) followed up with wins in the next two events. In the 200 fly, Matt Elliott edged a pair of LSU swimmers, finishing in 1:48.35 to top Frank Greeff (1:48.97) and Brandon Goldman (1:49.78). Goldman rebounded with a win in the 200 back later on in 1:49.48.<\/p>\n
Corey Main (100 free, 44.81), Dan Wallace (200 breast, 2:04.32), Mitch D’Arrigo (500 free, 4:29.43) and Carlos Omana (200 IM, 1:51.11) also won individual events for Florida.<\/p>\n
Florida’s B squad of Corey Main, Erik Kahr, Mark Szaranek and Enzo Martinez Scarpe topped the opening 200 medley relay in 1:29.34, while LSU’s Marco Gonzalez, Joao Victor Mescolote, Frank Greeff and Alex Linge won the 400 free relay in 3:05.12.<\/p>\n
LSU’s Andrew Suchla topped the men’s 1-meter diving field with 308.40 points, while Florida’s Zach Hernandez claimed the 3-meter with 352.88 points.<\/p>\n