Florida’s youngest swimmers led the team in the second day of the Southeastern Conference Swimming Championships, but two reliable veterans once again made their mark.
Freshmen Elizabeth Beisel, Marcin Ceislak and Brad deBorde claimed three of the Gators’ seven medals.
Junior Sarah Bateman and senior Conor Dwyer also shattered records for the Gators. Bateman swam the 50 free in 22 seconds, breaking the UF record, and Dwyer beat out tough competitors to swim the fastest 500 free in SEC history with a time of 4:11.36.
“The good thing about Conor is he’s really good in a close race,” Troy said.
DeBorde’s third-place 19.64 time in the 50-yard freestyle was the fastest by a freshman in school history, as was Ceislak’s second-place finish in the 200 individual medley. Beisel finished third in the 500 free with a 4:37.74, clocking the second-fastest time in UF history.
“We put some freshmen under fire today,” said coach Gregg Troy. “DeBorde stood up big time.”
Dwyer took his relay team to second place in another tight contest, the 200 freestyle relay, earning UF some unexpected points.
“Conor Dwyer’s swim was great,” Troy said. “I got a great swim out of Marco Loughran, who doesn’t usually swim freestyle.”
Troy said Dwyer will swim the 400 IM today against Georgia’s Bill Cregar rather than the 200 free, attacking one of Georgia’s strengths with the record-breaking Dwyer.
Troy added that there will be several lineup changes for the men, who overtook Tennessee and now sit in second place with 308 points behind Auburn’s 378.
“We’re in the hunt on both sides,” Troy said. “We made up a big deficit on the men’s side.”
The women passed Auburn and now hold a five-point lead over second-place Georgia.
“We’ve done well so far, but we’re going to have to do it a little more if we want to win,” Bateman said.
