Saturday’s swim meet came down to the final two races in the O’Connell Center, as the Florida women’s swimming and diving team looked to avenge last year’s loss to rival Florida State.
However, the Gators men did not have as much trouble.
Despite FSU taking comfortable leads early in the meet, both UF squads rallied to victories.
The diving team started off the meet on Thursday, but the women’s sophomore standout, Kahlia Warner, did not compete due to illness.
The Seminoles dominated diving. The men’s team took the first three spots on the 1-meter board and grabbed first and third place on the 3-meter, leading to a 28-10 springboard beatdown against Florida. FSU’s women did the men one better, taking first and second on the 1-and 3-meter boards, lending a 29-10 advantage over UF to start the meet.
The Seminoles tallied 23 of the possible 36 points in the last two races, but they came up six points short as UF rode strong performances from sophomore Hilda Luthersdottir and senior Elizabeth Beisel to a 153-147 victory.
"It was definitely good to come back this year and win, especially because it is my senior year and the last time that I will have a chance to go against FSU," Beisel said.
Florida’s men won 12 of the 16 events en route to their 180-118 win. The victory extends their consecutive dual-meet win streak to 20.
"We’ve got some work to do," coach Gregg Troy said.
"This is about how good we can be in February and March. We’ve got to get to that point."
Follow Logan McGuire on Twitter @loganjmcguire
