Sitting in fourth place with two events left at the Women’s NCAA Swimming Championships, Florida’s hopes of a national title looked bleak.
But a solid performance in the platform competition vaulted the Gators into the lead, and a third-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay clinched UF’s first national championship since 1982 in West Lafayette, Ind.
“This was a Cinderella weekend for us,” UF coach Gregg Troy said. “I just can’t say enough. We kept focus on what we wanted to do. It feels great.”
The Gators finished with 382 points — 2.5 more than second-place Stanford — and 12 All-Americans, earning Troy the 2010 NCAA Women’s Coach of the Year Award.
Florida entered the final day of competition in fifth place, but after divers Kara Salamone and Monica Dodson finished third and eighth in the platform competition, the Gators jumped into first place over Stanford, Arizona, Georgia and California.
“We thought that if we got one diver in the championships and one in the finals, we would be set up well for a third-place team finish,” diving coach Donnie Craine said. “When both Kara and Monica made the championship, we knew if it all panned out right, we would have a shot at first.”
In the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, the squad of Liz Kemp, Gemma Spofforth, Shara Stafford and Jamie Bohunicky swam a time of 3:13.43. The time was good enough to secure a UF record, third-place finish and NCAA Championship.
Stanford (379.5), California (363), Arizona (359.5) and Georgia (342.5) rounded out the top five team finishers.
“This day was an emotional rollercoaster,” Spofforth said. “We didn’t really, honestly, think we were going to win, and to come out with such a victory is a great feeling.”
Spofforth failed in her quest to become the first four-time winner of the 200-yard backstroke, but she ended her decorated career with seven national titles, including this year’s 100-yard backstroke and 200-yard freestyle.
“There were lots of tears, but I have put them all behind me because to win this title with all of my teammates is much more amazing and important to me than an individual title,” Spofforth said.
