Florida’s Marcin Cieslak blew the competition out of the water in the Florida men’s 162-138 win over Tennessee. Cieslak had three of the eight victories for the men with each time qualified for a NCAA ‘B’ cut. He was able to continue his unbeaten streak in the 200 fly by touching the wall at 1:48.49. The Southeastern Conference Male Swimmer of the Week has three wins in the 200 fly on the year. He also picked up the win in the 100 fly and 200 free with times of 47.77 and 1:37.65, respectively.
“Marcin swam exceptionally well for us today. He lifted our team,” UF coach Gregg Troy said.
Cieslak wasn’t the only Gator that found success. The team was able to sweep the 200 fly with Connor Signorin and Gabriel Huen following. Signorin stopped the clock at 1:49.63 and Huen timed in at 1:49.70.
The top three spots in the 500 free were all by Gators. Jonathan Jordan was the first Gator to finish at 4:29.06. Jason Taylor followed with a time of 4:30.21 and in third was Nicholas Caldwell who timed in at 4:31.25.
Brad deBorde was another Gator who mad a splash in the pool. DeBorde was victorious in the 50 and 100 free. He had a NCAA ‘B’ cut time in the 50 free by touching the wall at 19.57. For the 100 free he stopped the clock at 44.48.
Matt Elliot was able to earn two NCAA ‘B’ cut times. In the 200 breast, he took home first place with a time of 1:59.27. Elliot would come in second for the 100 breast by clocking in at 55.15.
Taylor got a win of his own in the 1,000 free with a time of 9:16.64. Caldwell followed with a time of 9:20.78.
“We didn’t swim as well as we would have liked to today. Tennessee raced real tough – they were a good competitor,” coach Troy noted. “Our men swam pretty well today, we certainly have a ways to go, but I was pleased with the way they faced today. The women we just didn’t swim especially well the front half of the meet, but picked it up in the latter half of the races. Tennessee swam really swim well, and hats off to them for that.”
The women were not as fortunate as the men, losing to the No. 10 Volunteers 178-120.
Sarah Bateman was a bright spot for the club with two wins in the 50 and 100 free. In the 50 free, she clocked in at 22.13 and for the 100 free it was 49.10. Both of her times were NCAA ‘B’ cut eligible. The senior added a second-place finish in the 100 fly with a time of 54.43.
Elizabeth Beisel finished in the top three in all of her events. Beisel was victorious in the 200 back by clocking in at 1:56.15. She finished second in the 1,000 free with a time of 9:40.32. The sophomore came in third in the 100 back by touching the wall at 54.23.
Teresa Crippen also got a victory for the Gators in the 200 IM with a time of 2:00.88.
For the Gator relay squads, the men and women combined to earn four second-place finishes in the 200 medley and 400 freestyle. The quartet of Bateman, Hilda Luthersdottir, Ellese Zalewski, and Kaitlin Frehling came in at 1:41.85 in the 200 medley relay. In the 400 freestyle relay, Bohunicky, Beisel, Natasha Fung, and Zalewski clocked in at 3:22.33. Christian Homer, Elliott, Cieslak, and Matt Norton teamed up in the 200 medley and finished at 1:30.05. Dan Wallace, Scott Heil, Eduardo Solaeche-Gomez, and Signorin worked together to finish the 400 freestyle relay in 3:03.67.
On the diving boards, Mike Lewark had a second- and fifth-place finish in the one-meter (318.23 points) and three-meter (310.50) boards, respectively. Chris Jones earned a third-place finish in the three-meter competition with a score of 345.45 and finished in fifth on the one-meter boards with a score of 291.53. Kaylee Doback had a second- and fourth-place finish in the one-meter (309.75) and three-meter (267.00) competitions, respectively.
The Gators will give the competition a rest before heading to the SEC Conference Championships from Feb. 15th to the 18th in Knoxville, Tennessee at the Jones Aquatic Center. Last time the Gators finished in second for both the men and women.
Gator Country reporter Sara Ladwig can be reached at sladwig@gatorcountry.com