The No. 7 UF women’s swimming and diving team ended winter break early to compete in a home quad-meet at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center on Friday.
Florida took on SEC rival Vanderbilt and two first-time opponents in North Florida and Liberty.
UF finished first in all 14 of the events against its adversaries en route to three wins.
It defeated Vanderbilt 188-70, North Florida by a score of 190-68 and Liberty by a tally of 178-80.
The Gators are now 10-0 on the season and showed no signs of slowing down after a large break from action.
Here’s what you need to know about the Gators’ first meet of 2020:
First in their class
The Gators finished with the top time in each of their 14 events.
Vanessa Pearl and Talia Bates dominated in their return to the pool with two victories apiece.
Pearl placed first in the 200 IM with a first-place time of 1:58.64. The sophomore also won the 100 breast in 1:02.15.
The freshman Bates posted nearly identical times in her 100 back and 100 fly wins, finishing the events in 54.44 and 54.45, respectively.
Other Gators had impressive days as well.
Junior swimmer Taylor Ault posted a personal-best time of 2:01.08 in her 200 fly win.
The distance swimmers also experienced success on Friday.
UF placed first through fourth in the 1,000 free, led by freshman Tylor Mathieu’s personal-best 9:59.41 finish.
Florida also swept the sprint events, with junior Gabby Hillis (50 free), senior Bella Garofalo (100 free), freshman Kathleen Golding (200 breast), senior Sherridon Dressel (200 free) and sophomore Rosie Zavoros (200 back) all earning wins.
UF will wrap up its 2019-2020 home schedule against No. 14 Auburn on Jan. 25 at 11 a.m.
Contact Dylan O'Shea at doshea@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @dylanoshea24
