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Despite notching a season-high 14 NCAA qualifying times and racing
one of their fastest meets of the year, the Gators couldn’t spoil
Auburn’s Senior Day celebration Friday afternoon.
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Florida trailed in both men’s and women’s events for most of the
meet, losing by a combined 64 points. However, UF still received
the same, solid output from their top two swimmers on each
team.
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For the No. 5 men, senior duo Conor Dwyer and Brett Fraser combined
for seven NCAA cuts, five season-best times and two individual
wins. Their No. 6 female counterparts, freshman Elizabeth Beisel
and junior Sarah Bateman, were also dominant with six qualifying
times including two season-bests, and three victories
individually.
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The Gators ran into trouble early when trying to replace the points
usually grabbed by injured junior diver Anthony Lewark and women’s
relay swimmer Shara Stafford.
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“We weren’t as fresh as we would’ve liked to have been for the
meet, and unfortunately, Auburn has a lot of depth in the sprints
and the relays,” Bateman said.
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Coming into the Auburn meet, Lewark had racked up a team-high seven
diving wins. In his absence with a back injury, Florida missed out
on winning either the one- or three-meter dive for the first time
this year in a dual meet.
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While missing a key diver was an issue, the Gators also struggled
in the relays.
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Stafford, a junior, has been a part of four season-high relay times
and is the team’s third leading points scorer. Without Stafford to
help anchor the 400-yard freestyle relay and 200-yard medley relay,
Florida dropped both events and left 22 points in the pool.
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Coach Gregg Troy could not be reached for comment Friday night as
to why Stafford was not at the meet.
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“She can really swim anything so it took a lot of us to fill in for
what she usually swims,” Bateman said.
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Even with their struggles in the dives and relays, the Gators found
a way close the Tigers’ lead by the 15th event of the
evening.
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The men’s team swept the 200-yard butterfly with sophomore
Sebastien Rousseau leading the way with an NCAA “B” cut of
1:46.04.
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Bateman won the 50-yard freestyle for the women to cut deeper into
Auburn’s lead.
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But just when Florida thought it had clawed back in reach of the
No. 6 Tigers, Adam Brown, the defending SEC Swimmer of the Week,
swept Florida in the 50-yard freestyle. The Tigers’ lead was back
to 20 and continued to swell towards a 34-point victory for Brown
on Senior Day.
