In what was the final home meet for a group of 13 Florida swimmers and divers against Auburn’s swimming and diving teams, the 2014 senior class did not disappoint.
With a swirl of emotions ranging from sadness to joy, Elizabeth Beisel led the women to a 173.5 – 124.5 win by capturing first in the 200-yard individual medley (1:59.20), 200-yard backstroke (1:55.21) and 200-yard butterfly (1:57.82).
“I started off crying when we saw all of the pictures. I ended up smiling because we won,” Beisel said.
And although she was excited to pick up a victory against the twelfth ranked Tigers, Beisel’s focus is keen on the postseason.
“I think today was a good marker for where we are because we’re not rested, but we’re also not really tired,” Beisel said. “Going into SEC’s, we know where we are and what we need to do. It was a good meet for us today.”
On the men’s side, Florida picked up wins in 11 of the 16 events on the way to a 180-117 trouncing. After Friday’s diving portion of the meet was all Tigers, Marcin Cieslak’s touched first in the 100-yard fly (47.68 seconds) and 200-yard free (1:36.92) as well as swimming on both first-place 200-yard medley relay and 400-yard free relay on Saturday to help hand Auburn it’s third loss of the season.
UF head coach Gregg Troy was pleased with his team and the atmosphere of a packed house as more than 1,200 people overflowed the stands to cheer on the Gators. He had high praise for his seniors who accounted for nine of the 20 individual event victories and swam on the men’s winning 200-yard medley relay and both 400-yard free relay squads.
The latter was thanks to comeback wins on the final 100 yards by seniors Sebastien Rousseau and Ellese Zaelwski.
“(The seniors) instilled in the whole group the expectation that you are going to put your hand on the wall first,” Troy said. “It has become contagious in our program and is a tribute to the way they have competed in their four years here.”
Follow Logan McGuire on Twitter @loganjmcguire
Senior Elizabeth Beisel competes in the 200-yard butterfly during Florida's match against Auburn on Saturday.
