Sometimes experience isn't everything when it comes to winning.
The UF men's and women's swim teams went into this Friday's dual meet in Ann Arbor, Mich., with different perspectives, not only about their races but also on the season as a whole.
The men, led by experienced swimmers junior Clark Burckle and senior Rex Tullius, failed to get their first win of the season as the Wolverines topped the Gators, 182-115.
Many of the Gators' veterans displayed strength leading off the meet with a win in the 400-yard medley relay behind Burckle and Tullius (3:17.06). However, two other first-place finishes by Burckle weren't enough to get the Gators going.
UF suffered disappointing losses in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle races, not being able to place any of their swimmers in the top three in either event.
Michigan sophomore Tyler Clary came out with a dominant performance, coming in first in three individual events. Performances from young Wolverine swimmers like Clary helped the Wolverines bring down the Gators.
The UF women, who headed into the season without departed 2008 NCAA Swimmer of the Year Caroline Burckle took it to the Wolverines, winning 206-94, but fell short of powerhouse Stanford 178-122 in a matchup between the three schools.
Many of the Gators saw their first college action on Friday. Freshmen Shara Stafford, Lindsay Rodgers and Teresa Crippen swam along with junior Stephanie Napier in the first event of the meet, the 400-yard medley relay.
The quad, swimming a 3:43.79, would end up less than a second behind the first-place Stanford team with a time of 3:42.98.
"(That race) was pretty nerve racking," Stafford said. "It felt good getting to swim (against) Stanford and not having them kill us like everyone thought they would."
Stafford hopes that matches like this give the young team experience to build on early in their college swimming careers.
"It was similar to high school," she said. "But there's more of a team dynamic than individual."
That might be the key to UF's future success. Not growth fueled by the individuals that comprise the team, but by the team as a whole.
UF doesn't have much time to think about this weekend's event, as it heads to Baton Rouge, La., to kick off the Southeastern Conference season against LSU, with the men hitting the pool Wednesday and the women on Thursday.
