The Gators were right at home at the top of the leaderboard last weekend.
Florida’s men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams both finished in first place at the Pinch A Penny All Florida Invitational, with the women going a perfect six-for-six in the finals.
A national powerhouse, Florida is on track to build off of last season’s top-ten success. Now, they need to focus on continuing improvement.
Offering an opportunity to prove themselves at the collegiate level, the meet gave the freshmen a glimpse into NCAA swimming. Although some freshmen turned in impressive performances, such as Sydney Sell’s second-place finish in the 200-meter backstroke final, head coach Gregg Troy was not expecting perfection in their transitional first race.
“We were pretty good in the freshmen,” Troy said. “The freshman men Ross Palazzo, Brennan Balogh, Alex Lebed, they all had a final swim or consolation here and there, It’s a good experience for them because the swims they had were very very good swims for them in the high school perspective, but not quite as good in the collegiate perspective.”
For many of the freshmen, their performances would have been good enough to win gold in a high school competition. However, with increased competition at the college level they were only able to make the finals, with no guarantee of a medal.
Troy said they will have to learn to adjust to this new speed quickly if they want to be successful this season. The All Florida Invitational was an eye-opener to what they can improve on besides just their raw times.
The coaches are focusing more on individual performances rather than the team as a whole. According to Troy, sophomore standout Caeleb Dressel is head and shoulders above where he was last year, swimming a 43.17 in the 100-meter freestyle final and showing promise in other events.
“A year ago it was a struggle for him, right now he’s become a little bit of a practice leader,” Troy said. “He’s obviously a better sprinter than anything else, but he’s shown a lot of versatility in a lot of areas. Those are real key to long term development.”
This week, the coaches will spend time deciding which athletes will be focusing on one event, and which have the versatility to successfully compete in several events. Also concentrating on fitness, the staff hopes to elevate the team’s overall level of conditioning.
While not without their flaws, both teams proved this weekend that they have the ability to top the leaderboards, solidifying their positions as two of the premier swimming and diving teams in the country.
Follow Lauren Staff on Twitter @LStaff27
Under coach Gregg Troy (above), Florida returns 11 All-Americans this season on the men’s team and two-time Olympian Elizabeth Beisel to the women.
