A season of record-setting performances, close wins, near losses and hundreds of hours spent swimming tens of thousands of yards culminates in Milwaukee, Minn., at the three-day NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships that gets started today for the No. 8 Gators (5-3, 3-2 Southeastern Conference).
Florida’s squad of 14 qualified swimmers, headlined by two-time NCAA Champion senior Elizabeth Beisel, boasts nine 2013 All-Americans and five first timers to the national meet who are eager to prove they are better than their third-place performance at SEC Championships a month ago.
“We felt all along that we had a better NCAA team,” coach Gregg Troy said. “We can swim all of the relays. We have some very good individual athletes and we’ve played a little bit with events to maximize our roster.”
One of those changes from the SEC lineup will be Beisel swimming the 200-yard butterfly, an event she’s competed in five times this season and has the team’s best time on the year, and is seeded ninth entering NCAA’s. But she’s in more familiar territory swimming the 200-yard backstroke – an event she claimed a national title for in 2012 – in the three seed and will be defending her 2013 NCAA crown in the 400-yard individual medley which she is the No.1 seed for.
The decision was made as a way to score more points across different events which is something the coaching staff has been doing with Beisel all season.
“I’m obviously going to win for the team if I can and do the best that I can. I guess it’s just a product of what I’ve been able to do,” she said.
It will be Beisel’s fourth NCAA Championships appearance in as many years along with three other seniors, Ellese Zalewski, Hilda Luthersdottir and Alicia Mathieu.
Last year, Florida finished in sixth at the NCAA meet and has the potential to do better this year, but breaking into the top-5 will be tough in a stacked field. However, one-third of the NCAA field is comprised of SEC swimmers so the Gators will have some familiarity with their competition.
“Our athletes are a confident group. They’ve been there before and raced,” Troy said. “There is one thing we are certain of. They will give it their all and be eyeball to eyeball with folks, and that’s what we’re looking for.”
Follow Logan McGuire on Twitter @loganjmcguire
