Proving Her Worth
In 2006, Gemma Spofforth came to UF from West Sussex, England, because she had something to prove.
She found her motivation in the form of a British swimmer named Simon Burnett, who trained at the University of Arizona and returned to break British records.
“I saw that and thought, ‘That’s what I want to do. I want to go away and hide and pretend I’m not swimming anymore and come back and prove to people,’” Spofforth said.
She has certainly proven what she’s capable of since then, breaking four Southeastern Conference records and one NCAA mark with her four SEC and five NCAA titles. She holds UF’s fastest individual time in the 100-yard backstroke, the 200 back and the 200 individual medley.
Spofforth most recently won the Ben Hill Griffin Award, which is given to the highest-achieving male and female athletes of the year, becoming only the third woman to win the award two years in a row since its inception in 1992.
But Spofforth said her most memorable win at UF was the NCAA title the women’s team took in 2010.
“We had been together for a year, and it was important that you’ve got all those people behind you, and it’s a team effort not just by yourself,” she said.
Spofforth is a champion on the international level as well, setting the world record in the 100-meter back with her first-place finish at the 2009 FINA World Championships in Rome.
She holds three British records and took fourth place in the 100 back and ninth in the 200 back at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Her next goal is to swim for Britain in the 2012 London Olympics, which she is training for in Gainesville. She said she looks forward to meeting former teammates as opponents on the international level.
Elizabeth Beisel, who had a phenomenal freshman season at UF, competes against Spofforth at international meets in backstroke events. While they enjoy competing against each other, Spofforth said the rivalry between the two Gators remains friendly.
Between Olympic training sessions, Spofforth is just doing what any other post-graduate does: learning to take care of herself and looking forward to the future.
“I’m actually learning how to cook at the moment, and that’s going really well,” she said. “I’m just sort of getting my life in order, sorting things out and looking into going to grad school in 2012 after the Olympics.”
A Family, Youth and Community Sciences major, Spofforth volunteered at the Alachua County Crisis Center while at UF and hopes to go to graduate school in either in Florida or California to become a school counselor. Her father, Mark Spofforth, said she always wanted to prove she could excel in school, even with the amount of time she spent at the pool.
“You’ve got some of the kids who give up school at 16 just to swim and do nothing else, and after a few years, they’re burnt out,” he said. “I think the great thing about Gemma is the balance she’s got behind the academic work and the swimming.”
Pushing His Potential
Two years ago, Conor Dwyer left the University of Iowa for the University of Florida, searching for better opportunities.
As an athlete who excelled at swimming, lacrosse, baseball and water polo at Loyola Academy in Illinois, Dwyer knew his talents were greater than his accomplishments in two years at Iowa.
While making a trip to Gainesville to train, he realized Florida was the school where he needed to be.
He exhausted his eligibility at UF with an NCAA Male Swimmer of the Year award, two SEC Male Swimmer of the Year awards and a Ben Hill Griffin Award. He joined Tim Tebow and fellow swimming great Ryan Lochte, among past recipients.
“There are so many great athletes here at UF, so to be named the top one is kind of a shock,” Dwyer said.
He has represented the team at an extraordinarily high level during his two years as a Gator. He is a seven-time All-American, seven-time All-SEC Selection, two-time National Champion and four-time SEC Male Swimmer of the Week.
Dwyer is also in the UF record books, holding four school titles. But he said his SEC Championship-winning 800 free relay is the one that means the most to him.
“I’ve won some individual titles, but winning with three other guys on my team was really fun for me,” he said.
Florida coach Gregg Troy said Dwyer’s constant vigilance and ability to give that final push has helped the team with its relay success the past two years.
Dwyer has competed on the international level as well, finishing in the top six in five events at the 2010 Long Course U.S. Nationals.
His next challenge is the 2011 FINA World Championships in Shanghai, where he will swim under Troy with teammates Beisel and Teresa Crippen.
Dwyer then hopes to take his international experience to the highest level when he tries out in Omaha, Neb., for the U.S. Men’s Olympic Team, which Troy will also coach during the summer of 2012.
“My career just exploded with (Troy), and to go to the biggest meet in the world with him as my coach would mean everything to me,” Dwyer said. “I would hope he would want to have me on the team as well.”
Troy has expressed his confidence in Dwyer’s Olympic potential by comparing him to another former Gator great who took home six medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
“He’s in Ryan Lochte mode,” Troy said. “We’d give anything to have a couple more years of eligibility with Conor, but I see him being a big player on the Olympic level.”
“It’s an honor to be compared to Ryan because he’s done so well, not just in college but internationally, so I hope I can just keep getting better,” Dwyer said. “We’ll see if I can do it in the big pool.”
