Before the Florida Atlantic meet a year ago, Sebastien Rousseau knew he would have his chance.
Nine of Florida’s best swimmers and divers were off to Dallas to compete in a bigger meet, leaving Rousseau and a slew of other untested and inexperienced underclassmen to prove themselves in open spots once held by All-Americans.
The meet against the Owls was Rousseau’s first time swimming as a Gator. He had just transferred from South Africa to Gainesville for the spring semester. And, as the new guy, not much was expected from him when he kicked off the pool wall for the men’s 200-yard butterfly.
Less than two minutes later, Rousseau had won his first collegiate race and posted a qualifying time for NCAAs. By the end of the season, he was an All-American.
Most of the No. 5 Gators men’s team (3-2, 2-0 SEC) will have the same opportunity to try for a breakout performance during Saturday’s dual meet against FAU on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the O’Connell Center Natatorium.
With team leaders like Rousseau, four-time SEC Swimmer of the Week Conor Dwyer and All-American Brett Fraser on the road for the SMU Classic today and Saturday, a massive scoring void needs to be filled by the Gators against the Owls.
“We haven’t really said anything to them yet, but I feel like they know what they have to do, and it’s expected,” Rousseau said. “When some of the better guys, if you want to say, go to another meet, you’ve got to step up and prove yourself.”
Almost 77 percent of UF’s individual wins this year have come from the eight swimmers and one diver heading to Dallas.
Even with Florida’s loss of scoring power, the unranked Owls will still have some ground to make up on the Gators. When the two faced off earlier this season at the Georgia Tech Invitational in November, Florida beat the Owls by 854 points.
Gators coach Gregg Troy said he wanted to challenge the depth of the team even further during the meet by trying Florida’s swimmers out in new events.
“We’re very versatile, so we want to see the athletes in a couple of different places and decide what the best events are,” Troy said. “They’re going to swim a different slate than what they did last week.”
On the women’s side, the challenge during the week was not figuring out who will step up during the meet, but who will be healthy.
Many of the No. 6 Gators (3-3, 0-1 SEC) weren’t able to practice Wednesday due to flu-like symptoms, though now they look good to compete in Saturday’s meet. Junior All-American Shara Stafford was also limited by what her coach said was nausea and “problems with almost fainting.”
Troy went on to say that after a strong fall season with the Gators, Stafford’s performance would be key to the women’s success in the new year and that her condition doesn’t look like it will be a long-term problem.
Not all of Florida’s swimmers are feeling down heading into the FAU meet, though. After visiting her family in Australia over the winter break for the first time in six months, freshman Ellese Zalewski says the time out of the pool helped her mentally rejuvenate for a long season.
Last week against Georgia Tech, Zalewski notched her first two wins of the spring season in the 200-yard freestyle and the 200-meter relay.
