For the Florida swimming and diving teams this weekend, it was bittersweet as the No. 5 ranked men’s squad (3-1, 2-1 Southeastern conference) defeated Minnesota by a score of 167-125. However the No. 11 ranked Gators women’s team (3-2, 3-1 SEC) fell to the No. 10 ranked Gophers 183-117.
The difference this week for both the men and women was simply the close races, where the women just fell short for the second consecutive meet. After last week’s loss to Georgia, the men’s team wanted to get back on the winning track and it showed. Led by Eduardo Solaeche-Gomez, the senior from Madrid won the 100-yard (54.90) and 200-yard (2:00.15) breaststroke fairly easily. Sophomore Mitch D’Arrigo won a very close race in the 200-yard freestyle winning by eight-hundredths of a second. D’Arrigo also claimed the 500-yard freestyle in an NCAA ‘B’ standard time of 4:23.47.
Coach Gregg Troy mentioned the increase in the intensity.
“We didn’t do anything differently,” Troy said. “I think the athletes were a little more intense because they weren’t happy with the Georgia performance.”
If it were up to the men, they would probably choose to race in Gainesville more often. They have now won 19 straight dual meets in the O’Connell Center, a streak that dates back to 2010.
For the women, coach Troy believed they raced well, it was just those close races that got them again. Junior Natalie Hinds lost the 50-yard freestyle by two-hundredths of a second, but she would go on to win the 100-yard freestyle. She clocked two NCAA ‘B’ standard times in both races (22.91, 49.60). Depth continues to be an issue for the women’s squad, as injuries continues to hold them back. Junior Jessica Thielmann was relied on heavily once again, racing in more events than she is accustomed to. She would go on to claim the 500-yard freestyle with a NCAA ‘B’ standard time of 4:47.17. Redshirt freshman Georgia Hohmann also raced well after missing a week of training due to sickness.
“Georgia was real good for us,” said Troy. “Natalie Hinds has raced and trained well all season long and Jessica Thielmann continues fighting off all the big bullets coming at her”.
But it was the close races that doomed the women’s team against Minnesota and coach Troy talked about what they need to do going forward in order to reverse their fortunes.
“I think we got to keep our nose in the grindstone,” Troy said. “We got a long way to go before the spring and we are not going to get better by just constantly worrying about whether every race is good. We have to get back to practice, rehearse things, and maybe race one another in practice a little bit more.”
Follow Aaron Friedland on Twitter @aafriedland
