As the fall season nears its end, the UF swim teams leave satisfied about the progress they've made.
The fall dual meets are over, and only the Princeton Invite and the U.S. Nationals remain until January.
The Gators ended the fall dual meet season with a strong finish against Florida State, with the men and women winning handily against the Seminoles in Tallahassee, 167 to 133 and 197 to 98, respectively.
The Gators had powerful performances from their usual stars on both the men's and women's sides.
The first event of the day for the Gator men, the 200-yard medley relay, ended in a second-place finish for the squad comprising of Rex Tullius, Clark Burckle, Omar Pinzon and James Smith (1:31.48) who lost by a mere .03 seconds. The four, along with the rest of the men's power horses, would respond later in the meet by winning some key events.
Bradley Ally, Burckle and Tullius took action in event 30, the 200-yard individual medley, finishing one-two-three in the event.
The women had an even more dominant performance than the men, failing to swim the fastest time in only four events, two of which were won by Seminole swimmer Georgia Holderness.
However, swimmers like Gemma Spofforth came through in their specialty events. Spofforth came in first in the 100- and 200-yard back races with times of 54.26 and 1:58.80, respectively.
The Gators will go home to their families for Thanksgiving, earning some much-needed rest after a long stretch of what coach Gregg Troy had previously called the most intensive training he had ever implemented. The teams will then be split in two for the U.S. Nationals, where the more experienced swimmers will go, and the Princeton Invite for the rest of the team.
