The Florida men’s swimming and diving team captured its first dual-meet win of the season on the road against the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
The Gators totaled 13 wins out of 16 events as they downed the Gophers 172-124, extending their dual-meet win streak – dating back to Oct. 28, 2011 – to 12. With a win already secured through 15 events, Florida competed the 400-yard freestyle relay, the final event, as an exhibition but still put up a meet-best time of 2:58.06.
“We swam pretty well. Any time that you come out on the winning side, it is a good thing. We had some guys swim especially well,” UF coach Gregg Troy said.
“We had some big swims down the line. We were a little bit better this meet. We also had some spots where we are still making some mistakes. We were a little bit sloppy on the wall. We will continue to get better.”
Errors on the wall are something Troy has already mentioned to be a problem after the All-Florida Invitational in late September.
Minnesota prevented the sweep by fractions of a second with Derek Toomey (20.07 seconds) besting UF seinor sprinter Brad deBorde (20.25) in the 50-yard free, and Kyler Van Swol coming in on the 100-yard butterfly at 48.55 seconds over second-place redshirt senior Sebastien Rousseau’s 48.95 seconds. Dylan Zoe also got a Gopher win in the 3-meter diving.
Three Gators grabbed two individual wins each. Junior Matt Elliott earned victories in the 100-and 200-yard breaststroke, senior Marcin Cieslak picked up wins in the 100-yard backstroke and 100-yard free and Rousseau touched first in the 1,000-yard free and 200-yard fly.
“We put some people in some uncomfortable situations. I think Sebastien Rousseau was very good today. To go that fast in the first time he has ever competed in that [1,000-yard free], is really good,” Troy said.
“Marcin Cieslak showed some speed in the 100 freestyle. That is a newer event for him.”
Rousseau’s 200-yard fly (1:47.24) and junior Dan Wallace’s 400-yard individual medley (3:51.43) added two more NCAA provisional qualifying marks, totaling 23 on the season.
The Gators will compete next against Missouri as they travel to Columbus, Mo., on Thursday where the men will be joined by the women’s team as they open Southeastern Conference competition.
Follow Logan McGuire on Twitter @loganjmcguire.
Junior Matt Elliott competes in the men's open 100 breast at the Pinch a Penny All-Florida Invitation at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center on Sept. 28.
