The UF swimming and diving teams are a combined 6-0 after their weekend trip to south Florida.
Both the men’s and women’s teams tacked on a win apiece in their 10 a.m. matchup against FAU on Saturday.
The women cruised to an easy 220.5-79.5 final after their third-straight day of competition, and the men tabbed a 208-90 victory.
Here are some swimmers who stood out at the FAU Aquatic Center:
Women
Savanna Faulconer, Nikki Miller, Vanessa Pearl and Ashley McCool held heavy stock in the Gators’ 220.5 points after they all secured two first-place finishes each.
Faulconer’s wins came in the 1,000 free at 10:10.49 and 200 breast at 2:21.33.
Miller dominated in the 200 and 500 free. Her times in those wins were clocked in at 1:49.79 and 4:55.71.
Pearl added two more wins to hear early-season total of six in the 200 fly and back.
McCool led the way for the Gators on the diving board, capturing the 1-meter dive with a score of 299.70 and the 3-meter with a 314.85 tally.
The Gators dominated in the relays, as well. Emma Ball, Chade Nersicio, Kathleen Golding and Gabby Hills combined for a winning time of 1:11.54. UF’s second-place squad of Sherridon Dressel, Ellie Zweifel, Celi Guzman and Kirschtine Balbuena trailed behind by only two seconds.
Coach Jeff Poppel reflected on a successful weekend trip.
“I thought our women did a great job competing outdoors over three consecutive days in south Florida,” he said in a release. “Everyone competed hard, and these meets provided us with an excellent opportunity to see where our athletes are at this stage of the season."
The Gators’ next test will be when the team travels to compete against Minnesota on Oct. 11.
Men
The men are 3-0 after just two days of competition.
UF’s relay team kicked off the meet against FAU with a strong victory in the 200 medley relay behind the arms and legs of Kieran Smith, Marco Guarente, Will Davis and Jack Szaranek. They finished the race in 1:30.51.
The second relay carried the same first-place results, as Clark Beach, Khader Baglah, Davis and Smith came in at 3:01.20.
UF’s freshmen impressed, once again. Brennan Gravley, who came in second competing in the first race of his career, finished first in the 1,000 free with a 9:25.80 time to earn the first win of his career.
Alfonso Mestre finished third in the event, registering a time of 9:35.53.
Swimmers Trey Freeman (200 free), Dakota Mahaffey (100 back), and Dillon Hillis (100 breast) would also collect their first wins of the season.
The divers contributed to UF’s 208-point total, as well.
Alex Farrow tabbed victories in both the 1- and 3-meter dives. Nick Lydon earned second in the 1-meter behind Farrow.
Coach Anthony Nesty spoke highly about his team’s 3-0 weekend.
"Our team came out this morning and continued the same type of swimming we put together yesterday,” he said. “The men were ready to go from the start.”
The Gators will have two weeks to work on their fundamentals and times before joining the women’s team against Minnesota on Oct. 11.
Follow Dylan O'Shea on Twitter @dylanoshea24. Contact him at doshea@alligator.org.
The UF swimming and diving teams improved to a combined 6-0 on Saturday.
