Behind a memorable performance by Caeleb Dressel, the Gators men’s swimming and diving team finished third in the NCAA Championship, combining for 32 All-American honors and breaking seven school records throughout the week.
The four-day championship event, which ran from Wednesday through Saturday, was held at the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis.
Despite starting fast and maintaining momentum throughout the tournament, Florida couldn’t muster enough points and ended the tournament in their familiar third place finish under coach Gregg Troy.
Florida (294.5) finished behind Texas (542) and California (349).
“Great performances from guys across the board,” Troy said. “I’m really proud to be involved with them, and [they’re] a tremendous group to be with.”
Day 1
In the lone event of the night, the 800-yard freestyle relay, the Gators men’s swimming team provided a spark of confidence that would last the duration of the four-day tournament.
The Gators relay team, consisting of Jan Switkowski, Maxime Rooney, Mitch D’Arrigo and Mark Szaranek, finished third, touching in with a school-record time of 6:09.30. All four Gator swimmers received All-American honors, with freshman Rooney earning his first of his career.
Day 2
The Gators started fast on the second day of the championship. During the morning preliminary events, the Gators qualified for six events — four individual and 2 relays — and looked to improve their third place standing.
The highlight of the second day, however, turned out to be juniors Szaranek and Dressel.
Szaranek set a career-best time in the 200-yard individual medley, touching in at 1:40.67, tying Texas senior Will Licon for first place.
Dressel, meanwhile, touched in first with a pool record time of 18.23 in the 50-yard freestyle. Dressel, who has now won three titles in the 50-free, out-touched Ryan Held of NC State by nearly .6 seconds.
“We came in with a goal,” Dressel said. “You know, we have a fairly young class and only two seniors. It looks good for next year, but we got the job done this year.”
In the 200-yard freestyle relay, the Gators finished just shy of another second-day title. Despite breaking their previous record, which was set at February’s SEC Championship, Texas beat out Florida, out-touching the Gators 1:14.59 to 1:14.88.
Jan Switkowski, with career-best 1:41.17, provided the Gators with a win in the consolation final of the 200-yard individual medley. In the 500-yard freestyle, Mitch D’Arrigo finished sixth, touching in with a time of 4:15.18.
“We look forward to compete well in the NCAAs every year, “D’Arrigo said, “and it’s the main goal. We been top three a couple years now, so now we’re just looking, hopefully in the next year, to get better than this.”
The 400-yard medley relay wrapped up the second day with the Gators taking home eighth place. The relay team of Blyzinskyj, Chandler Bray, Dressel and Switkowski touched in at 3:04.90.
Day 3
Dressel, out-touching two-time defending champion Joseph Schooling, set a new NCAA record in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 43.58. Dressel’s time, which is also an American, U.S. Open and IU Natatorium pool record, provided time his first NCAA championship in the event.
“Caeleb Dressel is one of those special guys that brings everyone around him up,” Troy said. “He was fantastic. He’s a team guy. It’s not like he came here and set anything up.
In the 200-yard freestyle, Jan Switkowski out-touched the rest of the competition with a time of 1:32.51, providing the Gators with another win on the night.
Szaranek recorded a career-best time of 3:36.31 in the 400-yard individual medley, placing the junior third in the event.
On the final event of day three, Florida recorded their third school record of the night in the 200-yard medley relay. Jack Blyzinskyj, Bray, Szaranek and Dressel finished in fifth with a time of 1:23.08, breaking the Gators previous record of 1:23.44.
Day 4
The most memorable moment, however, came on the fourth and final day in Indianapolis.
In the 100-yard freestyle event, Dressel -- out-touching Missouri’s Michael Chadwick -- broke his own American record, defending his national title with a time of 40 seconds flat.
“The best races I have is when I have someone to race,” said Dressel, “So there was guys on both sides of me. And the best thing to do is just go for it and just turn my brain off and just race.”
After dominating the field in all of his individual events, Dressel -- for the second year in a row -- was later named CSCAA Swimmer of the Year.
Dressel, who now holds six national titles, is one title shy of Ryan Lochte for most in program history.
Along with the platform dive event, Florida competed in three more swimming events on the final day of the tournament — the 1650 freestyle, 200-yard butterfly and the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Jan Switkowski finished second in the consolation final of the 200-yard butterfly, touching in at 1:41.61.
Destined to finish their last event on top, Florida fell just short in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The Gators A-team of Dressel, Switkowski, Rooney and Szaranek finished second with a time of 2:46.21.
Despite the Gators being held in third place for most of the tournament, Troy was grateful for a good season.
“None of this is possible without the University of Florida and the administration,” he said. “Our support staff is fantastic. Great coaching staff. And it was truly a contribution from a whole lot of people for us to be a successor.
“We’ll be back next year and we’ll keep getting better.”
Follow Sean Denison on Twitter at @seandenison, or contact him at sdenison@alligator.org.
UF swimmer Caeleb Dressel slaps hands with a teammate during Florida's 183-117 win against Tennessee on Jan. 28, 2017, in the O'Connell Center.
