Swimming fans could not have asked for a better finish at the 2009 Southeastern Conference Swimming and Diving Championships at Auburn, Ala.
Florida, Auburn and Georgia each had a chance to win the SEC women’s title but the No. 5 Gators prevailed by winning their 17th team title and first since 2002 with 744 points. Auburn was second at 730.5 points with Georgia third with 725 points.
The men’s title went to the host Tigers, who dominated with 880.5 points. Florida’s men finished second with 626 points and Tennessee was third at 584. It was No. 8 Florida’s eighth straight runner-up finish.
The final event, the women’s 400-yard freestyle relay, ended up being won by Auburn’s team in 3:12.00. Georgia finished second in 3:13.11, while the Gators finished third in 3:14.37 thanks to the efforts of junior Elizabeth Kemp, junior Gemma Spofforth, freshman Shara Stafford and junior Stephanie Napier.
Spofforth, who hails from West Sussex, England, was named the SEC Female Swimmer of the Year. She also tied for the high-point winner with Auburn’s Ava Ohlgren. The duo each contributed 57 points toward their team’s totals. For the second straight year, Spofforth won the 200-yard backstroke title along with the 100-yard backstroke. She was clocked in 1:48.34, which was an NCAA, UF, SEC and pool record. Junior Omar Pinzon tied for second in the men’s high point, scoring 50 points for the Gators.
“I am so proud of both our men and women’s teams. They really brought it tonight,” coach Gregg Troy said. “Yesterday we were in a little bit of a hole and had some trouble racing, but our divers really kept us in the meet. Both the men and women gave it everything they had tonight. Gemma was just outstanding and had some great swims. The men’s and women’s backstroke championships to kick off tonight were a big key to our success. We’re extremely excited and we’re going to take a couple of days to enjoy this, but then it’s back to business. We’re not done yet. We have some other team goals that we’d like to achieve this year.”
Florida won 10 SEC events, six by the women and four by the men, during the four-day meet. The Gators also set one NCAA record, 16 school records, nine James E. Martin Aquatics Center pool records and five SEC records. The Gators also had 22 NCAA automatic qualifying marks.
Spofforth’s victory in the 200-yard backstroke led a 1-2-3 sweep of the event. Freshman Teresa Crippen of Conshohocken, Pa., finished second and junior Stephanie Proud of Durham, England, was third.
Senior Rex Tullius of Port Orange and Pinzon, who hails from Bogota, Colombia, went 1-2 in the 200-yard backstroke. It was Tullius’ first SEC championship.
After winning the 100-yard butterfly on Friday, Jemma Lowe of the United Kingdom won the 200-yard butterfly Saturday. She set a new SEC and UF record with her 1:52.53 finish.
Both junior Clark Burckle of Louisville and Shaune Fraser of the Cayman Islands set Florida records on the final night. Burckle finished third in the 200-yard breast (1:54.42), while Fraser took second, an improvement from his 2008 third-place finish, in the 200-yard fly (1:41.88).
Senior Laurabeth Guenthner of Wellington had a second-place finish in the 1,650-yard freestyle in 15:56.44. Sarasota’s Ryan Crete finished third in the men’s 1,650-yard freestyle in 14:53.63.
WOMEN’S TENNIS: The Gators, ranked 12th nationally, earned a 4-1 victory over visiting Troy University Saturday afternoon in the Linder Stadium at the Ring Tennis Complex. The final outcome was Florida’s 58th straight home victory.
Florida entered the match short-handed for the third straight outing, with just five players available. As a result, the Gators had to default at No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles.
Nevertheless, the Gators won the doubles point as the No. 2 team of Marrit Boonstra and Joanna Mather scored an 8-1 victory in 37 minutes over Troy’s Mirte De Bakker and Stephanie Vieira. Then the No. 1 Florida team of Jessica Alexander and Anastasia Revzina topped Troy’s Rawia Elsisi and Leonie Guijt, 8-2.
“It was good for us to play today because we’re not quite back to 100 percent physically,” Florida head coach Roland Thornqvist said. “Today was tough to play as
a result, but I thought we had great attitudes and played with a lot of heart. Overall, I was pretty pleased with what I saw.”
The Gators (6-3) then got individual wins from Mather, Boonstra and Alexander to close out the match against Troy (3-4). Mather beat Leonie Guijt, 6-0, 6-0, in 43 minutes. Boonstra improved to 8-0 this season with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Rawia Elsis at No. 1 singles. Alexander then took a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Stephanie Vieira.
The Gators return to the court next Saturday when they travel to Florida State for a 1 p.m. match.