Florida’s roster was a work in progress during the Fall season, but with three weeks until the Southeastern Conference Championships, the Gators are rounding into postseason form.
The men’s side lacked middle and long distance freestylers, and the breaststroke was a bit of a question mark — almost as bad as the same hole the Gator women needed to fill.
But junior Eduardo Solaeche-Gomez, has made his mark in the breast events, filling the void Florida had at that position. He has the Gators’ top times in both the 100- and 200-yard breast this season with the fourth-best swim in the country for the latter event. He is a member of the 400-yard medley relay that notched an “A” cut at the Ohio State Invitational in late November — the nation’s seventh-fastest time.
However, Solaeche-Gomez’s impact was something coach Gregg Troy had foreseen. Something the coaching staff did not see coming was the slew of school records the women’s team would break this season — six — including both breast events by senior Hilda Luthersdottir.
The Icelandic Olympian emerged as the dominant breaststroker for the Gators this season, a spot that was wide open in September.
“We were tremendously fortunate in the fall,” Troy said. “Hilda Luthersdottir has taken her swimming to a whole new level. So where the breaststroke used to be a weak spot for us, right now, she’s one of the (10) fastest in the country. It makes all our relays click.”
Florida has qualified “A” cuts in all five relays.
The addition of freshman freestyler Mitch D’Arrigo gave the men solid production in the 500- and 1,000-yard free all season, but Saturday’s dual meet against the Tigers saw three Gators put up national top-five times in the 1,000 free. Sophomores Ryan Rosenbaum, second, and Arthur Frayler, third, and D’Arrigo, fifth, all went under 9:05 in the event.
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Hilda Luthersdottir (pictured) held the school record for the 200 breast until freshman Vanessa Pearl topped it on Saturday.
