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After a tough defeat last Friday at Auburn, the Gators rallied
against Tennessee at home for a Senior Day win.
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The No.5 men’s team had 34 season-best times and 12 first-place
finishes, leading them to a 198-101 victory over the
Volunteers.
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The No. 8 women’s team took first in seven races and achieved 21
season-best times to win 180-120.
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The victory for the men’s team was the largest win over Tennessee
in school history, and the combined margin between both Florida
squads was the greatest margin of triumph in a one-day duel meet
since 2001.
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The meet started well for Tennessee with top one-meter diving
scores for the men’s and women’s teams, but Florida’s 200-yard
medley relay team turned the tide with an NCAA “B”-qualifying first
place finish. It was the first victory of the day for senior Marco
Loughran, who beat his previous record, and also took first place
in both the 100- and 200-yard backstroke.
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“Especially on senior day, I’m really happy to finish the way I
did,” Loughran said. “I’m not really too bothered where other
people stand, I’m just worried about where I think I can go.”
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Twelve of Loughran’s teammates joined him in earning qualifying “B”
times for the NCAA Championships including seniors Conor Dwyer,
Balazs Gercsak and senior Alex Martin.
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Dwyer finished first in both the 200-yard freestyle and the
400-yard individual medley, which he broke the national record with
a time of 3:44.73. The 400 IM was a team success as well as the
Gators capture the first four places.
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The women’s team finished first through fourth in the 400-yard IM
as well, sweeping Tennessee for the second time of the meet, the
first being their dominant finish in the 200-yard backstroke.
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The 200-yard backstroke provided individual success for the women
as well when sophomore Kaitlin Taylor swam a season-best time and
three other teammates placed NCAA “B” cut times.
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Junior Sarah Bateman swam her fastest time of the year winning the
100-yard freestyle. Her victory in the 50-yard freestyle was just
.04 off her season best, and said it was great to send the seniors
off with a successful meet.
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The only senior on the women’s team, diver Monica Dodson, achieved
her second-best career three-meter dive and said she feels
confident with her dives going into the SEC championships.
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“Being able to come in and do what I wanted to do and achieve what
I wanted to achieve means a lot,” she said. “It’s always good to
end on a good note, so I’m happy.”
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Head coach Gregg Troy said he was pleased with the outcome today,
especially with the women’s team who has had several health issues
this season.
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“I’m really proud of the women,” he said. “It’s just been an
up-and-down year. We’ve had setbacks and injuries, and they keep
doing a tremendous job.”
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Troy said he feels confident that junior Shara Stafford, who missed
today’s meet due to health reasons, will return in time for the SEC
Championships, hosted by Florida, in February.
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He said he plans to push both teams as they head into the end of
the season because although today’s outcome was favorable, it’s no
time to relax.
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“It’s good, but it doesn’t mean very much three weeks from now,” he
said. “It gives us certainly a good platform to move on and we saw
some tremendous things, we also saw some things we have to improve
in the next three weeks.”
