After blowing away the competition at the All-Florida Invitational last weekend, the Florida men’s and women’s swimming teams face a much stiffer test Saturday at 1 p.m., when LSU's 20th-ranked men's team and 18th-ranked women's squad comes to Gainesville.
Florida coach Gregg Troy called the Tigers the most improved team in the conference, but the Gators are still confident going into their first head-to-head Southeastern Conference meet of the season.
The Florida men bring to the pool a strong squad that has been bolstered by a deep and talented freshman class, led by SEC Male Freshman of the Week Matt Elliott.
Elliott, who finished the All-Florida Invitational with a team-high six first-place results, has been labeled by Troy as one of the best breaststroke swimmers in the country.
Troy is quick to admit, though, that his men’s team still has some weaknesses, particularly in the sprint events.
“That has been our weakness coming into the year, but we had a freshman, Matthew Curby, stand up well in the sprint events, which we don’t see very often,” Troy said. “He’ll help us a lot in the relay events.”
The Florida women have a more established lineup, led by Olympic hopefuls Elizabeth Beisel, Teresa Crippen, and Sarah Bateman. But as Troy noted at the beginning of the season, those three won’t be able to swim every event, so others will need to step up to fill the team’s holes.
Two swimmers who look poised to play a major role are junior Jamie Bohunicky and freshman Rebecca Rainer. Both notched impressive victories against Beisel – Bohunicky in the 200-meter freestyle, and Rainer in the in the 200-meter breaststroke.
To put those wins in perspective, Beisel has two top-five finishes in the 2008 Olympics to her credit, and was nominated Thursday for three Golden Goggle Awards, the same number as former Florida great Ryan Lochte.
Troy, who was also nominated for the Golden Goggle Best Coach award, called Bohunicky one of the bright spots of the All-Florida Invitational, and said that Rainer has proved herself already as one of the toughest racers on the team.
