When the Gators enter a pool with the Stanford women, it’s always a toss-up. This weekend, it was the Cardinal who came out on top.
In the UF women’s swimming and diving tri-meet against Stanford and Michigan this weekend, the Gators broke even, losing 227-175 to Stanford and prevailing 286-124 against the Wolverines.
“We had a pretty good two days and raced real well,” coach Gregg Troy said. “It was an opportunity to see what we need to work on. We need to get everyone healthy and work on our distance events and get more technically oriented.”
The two-day competition in Palo Alto, Calif., was the first time the Gators had faced off against Stanford since the 2010 NCAA Championships in March. There, the Gators won by a hair, leaving Stanford with the second-place national spot. The finish was the second tightest in NCAA Championships history.
“It was exciting facing Stanford again because of how close the NCAA meet was last spring,” junior Sarah Bateman said. “We only beat them by 2.5 points.”
The teams reunited on Stanford’s home turf accompanied by the Michigan team on Friday. On the first day of the meet, the Gators started off strong as Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week Elizabeth Beisel set the venue’s record in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:54.27. Beisel also snagged a win in the 200-yard individual medley.
Bateman also finished in the top spot in the 50 free, improving her record to 4-0 in the event this season.
“This is the hardest part of our season due to training and we managed to win a lot of close races,” she said.
In the diving realm, sole senior Monica Dodson grabbed the No. 2 spot in the 3-meter diving competition.
After the conclusion of day one’s events, the Gators were behind Stanford 148-95.
On Saturday, Beisel continued her domination, finishing first in both the 400-yard individual medley and 500-yard freestyle. Beisel clocked in with the fasted time in the country in the 400 at 4:08.53. Her 500 time was the third-fastest in the nation.
“We swam tired and sore, but we raced really impressive times for where we are in the season right now,” Beisel said. “Our main focus is the NCAAs and this is just a stepping stone toward that meet.”
Junior Shara Stafford also kicked it into high gear, nabbing a win for the Gators in the 200-yard freestyle. Bateman took the 100-yard breaststroke and walked away with second in the 100-yard butterfly while Dodson improved to a first place finish in the 3-meter dive the second day of the event.
“With such a young team, I think it was good for the girls to see what kind of talent they will be competing against at the end of the year,” Dodson said. “Though you are always wanting to win, I think there is a lot we can take from this meet.”
The Gators return to competition with the men’s squad for the Georgia Tech Invitational in Atlanta on Nov. 19.
