In a program with as illustrious a history as that of Florida swimming, it is not often that something is accomplished for the first time.
One of these firsts came on Sunday, as the Gators women’s swimming team won the Georgia Tech Invite by 165.5 points after years of near-misses at the event.
Florida was able to capture the elusive victory thanks in part to spectacular performances in relay events. Out of the five relays over the course of the three-day event, the Gators took home four of them, with a narrow second-place finish in the fifth relay.
The star of the weekend was sophomore Elizabeth Beisel, who accounted for two of Florida’s four individual event wins, while also finishing in second in two more races.
The other two wins for the Gators came courtesy of senior Sarah Bateman, who took home the 50-yard freestyle on Friday, and junior Jamie Bohunicky, who continued her domination of freestyle events by winning the 200.
Aside from the individual feats, the three were a part of the group that won the four relay events.
For the men, the experience at the Georgia Tech Invite must have seemed like déjà vu after coming in second for a third consecutive year.
While their female counterparts excelled in the relays all weekend, the Florida men can lament their poor performances in those same events as a major reason for the second-place finish.
The Gators only won one of the five relay events, and finished no higher than fourth in the other four.
The disappointment in the team’s finish doesn’t take away from some impressive individual performances, in particular those of freshman Matt Elliott and sophomore Marcin Cieslak. In his short time in college, Elliott has proven himself as a force to be reckoned with in breaststroke events, as he won the 100- and 200-yard races this weekend. Cieslak took home the 200 IM and 200 butterfly.
While both teams had solid weekend performances, they won’t be able to use any of the momentum gained, as this was the last dual meet for both teams until the new year.
