The story up to this point in the season for Florida’s swimming and diving teams has been their lack of consistency.
But both the men’s and women’s teams were able to put everything together against South Carolina on Friday.
The men’s team beat the Gamecocks for an eighth straight time with 178-115, while the women beat South Carolina 165-126.5.
The women have never lost against the Gamecocks extending their all-time series record to 19-0.
Coach Gregg Troy wanted to see how both teams would respond after their sporadic start to the season.
"It’s much easier to motivate when they haven’t done well," Troy said.
Entering the South Carolina meet, the No. 5 ranked men were on a two-meet losing streak after being defeated by both Texas and Indiana on Oct. 16 and by Georgia on Oct. 30.
The No. 18 ranked women were also coming off two straight losses to Texas and Indiana, and Georgia. Both teams were able to get going early against South Carolina and not let up.
The women’s 200 medley relay team of senior Ashlee Linn, sophomore Paige Scheriger, junior Alyssa Yambor-Maul, and senior Natalie Hinds set the tone early for the Gators, placing first with a time of 1:43.74, edging out South Carolina’s team who touched the wall in a time of 1:45.96.
Freshman Jan Switowski, a Poland native, came in big for the Gators, winning first-place in all four of his races.
In the process, Switowski set the nation’s top times in both the 200-yard individual medley (1:45.07) and the 200-yard freestyle (1:34.81).
Another freshman, Gainesville native Hannah Burns, has quietly been having a great season herself.
On Friday she stood out on the women’s side, winning and setting personal-best times in the 100-yard breaststroke and the 500-yard freestyle.
"Since she’s a medley swimmer we can use in a lot of different places," Troy said. "A lot of character for a freshman. Being a local girl who’s familiar with the program, it’s special to see that."
On Tuesday, both Burns and Switowski were awarded Southeastern Conference accolades, with Switowski earning SEC’s Male Swimmer of the Week, and Burns earning Female Freshman of the Week, the first recognition of her career.
Now the Gators will have less than two weeks to prepare and polish their swims before heading to Columbus, Ohio, on Nov. 20 for the Buckeye Invitational hosted by Ohio State University.
"It will give us a little bit of a chance to see the training philosophy, a little different preparation, and see how they respond," Troy said about the preparation these next ten days. "It will give us a little feedback to see where we are and what changes we will have to make for next semester."
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Junior Natalie Hinds competes in the 100-yard butterfly during Florida's 189.5-110.5 win against Arkansas on Saturday in the O'Connell Center
