Gator Country

Gators senior Jason Taylor finished the 500 free finals in fourth place with an NCAA "A" cut time of 4:15.69. / Gator Country file photo by Tim Casey

The University of Florida swimming and diving teams finished the second day of the SEC Championships with the men in second place and the women in third. The men have accumulated 412.5 points and the women currently have 443. The Gators saw two school records fall on the second night of competition.

The men started off the night with the 500 free finals. Senior Jason Taylor (Plant City, Fla.) was the top finisher for the Gators as he touched fourth with an NCAA “A” cut time of 4:15.69. The time ranks fifth in school history. Also in the A-Final was sophomore Carlos Omana (Miami, Fla.) who finished seventh in a NCAA “B” time of 4:20.81. Freshmen Arthur Frayler (Fort Washington, Pa.) and Adam Bull (Dallas, Texas) added valuable points as Frayler took 14th place finish in a time of 4:21.08 and Bull was 18th in 4:21.79.

Florida’s women were in the pool next, with a pair of Gators in the 500 free A-Final. Freshman Jessica Thielmann (Newcastle, England) finished seventh with a time of 4:38.90 and junior Alicia Mathieu (Marlborough, Conn.) took eight clocking in at 4:41.38, both with NCAA “B” times. In the B-Final, sophomore Molly Dubrasky (Estero, Fla.) finished 13th in a time of 4:43.35, senior Jamie Bohunicky (Gainesville, Fla.) was 14th with a 4:43.79 and sophomore Jordan Smith (Longwood, Fla.) was 16th in a time of 4:46.06. Then freshman Taylor Roy (Atlanta, Ga.) took 18th with her time of 4:47.21.

In the 200 IM, redshirt junior Sebastien Rousseau (Cape Town, South Africa) finished fourth in a time of 1:43.74, sophomore Eduardo Solaeche-Gomez (Madrid, Spain) was just behind in 1:44.04 to take fifth and sophomore Dan Wallace (North Berwick, Scotland) rounded out the “A” finals with a sixth place finish in a time of 1:44.16. Sophomore Matt Curby (Oviedo, Fla.) won the B-Final to finish ninth with a time of 1:44.62.

Junior Elizabeth Beisel (North Kingstown, R.I.) grabbed a second place finish in the women’s 200 IM. Beisel clocked in with a NCAA “A” time of 1:54.59 to set a new school record, the previous also belonged to her. Also in the A-final was freshman Ashlee Linn (Southfield, Mich.) who took sixth with a time of 1:57.70 and fellow freshman Lindsey McKnight (Coral Springs, Fla.) finished eighth in a time of 1:59.05, both with NCAA “B” times. The Gators added more points in the B-Final as sophomore Natasha Fung (Edmonton, Canada) finished 11th (1:58.75) and junior Hilda Luthersdottir (Harfnarfjurdor, Iceland) was 15th (2:00.28).

Besting his previous school record, junior Brad deBorde (Longwood, Fla.) finished second in the 50 free with a NCAA “A” time swim of 19.12. In the C-Final, freshman Pawel Werner (Wroclaw, Poland) touched first to finish 17th overall in a time of 19.94 and sophomore Ricky Munch (Clifton, Va.) tied for 18th with a time of 20.05.

On the women’s side, junior Ellese Zalewski (Melbourne, Australia) grabbed a fifth place finish as she touched in a NCAA “B” time of 22.15 and freshman Natalie Hinds (Midland, Texas) finished seventh with a NCAA “B” time of 22.26 in the A-Final of the 50 free. Zalewski’s time is the second best in school history and Hinds’ is fourth.

UF’s women also added some points from freshman Kahlia Warner (Queensland, Australia) after finishing seventh on the one-meter board. Warner scored a 290.55 in her first A-Final as a Gator.

The night concluded with a very fast 200 free relay competition. Florida’s men finished second to Auburn in a close race. The group of deBorde, Werner, freshman Corey Main (Auckland, New Zealand) and Curby combined for a NCAA “A” time of 1:17.26. The time ranks second in Florida history.

With the final race of the night, the Gator women took third in the 200 free relay as Zalewski, freshman Sinead Russell (Burlington, Ontario), McKnight and Hinds finished in a NCAA “A” time of 1:27.98. They moved into second all-time at UF.

Courtesy of UF Communications

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