The women’s and men’s swimming and diving teams will compete against the Auburn Tigers Saturday at 11 a.m.
While Auburn is a common enemy, the competition is different among the teams.
Florida women’s swim came off a 176-74 win against UNF Wednesday, where they made 22 B-cuts for the NCAA championship in March. The team currently ranks No. 8 while Auburn ranks No. 23.
Earlier this season, Florida beat the Tigers at Auburn 508-421 for a 3-1 record.
Sophomore Talia Bates shattered a personal record, becoming No. 10 in Gator history in the 100-yard freestyle with 48.52. She also made career-best times in the 50-yard and 200-yard freestyle with 22.30 and 1:45.29, respectively.
Junior Ellie Hatton topped her times in the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke and 200-yard and 400m IM. Junior Celi Guzman made a career low 23.84 in the 50-yard freestyle.
The competition wasn’t too challenging, and the closest times were between UF swimmers. In the 200-yard butterfly, freshman Amanda Ray ranked first at 1:57.44. Freshman Kenady Beil pulled second at 1:58.81.
However, there are exceptions. Auburn snagged first place in the 200-yard breast by only a tenth of a second.
The two schools have met 41 times, with a 25-16 record tipping in favor of Florida. Last year, the Gators won by a slim margin. The 161-137 win put an end to Florida’s three-year losing streak.
The last meet Florida’s men’s team attended was against FIU and Miami Jan. 17 explicitly for diving. Junior Nick Lyndon placed second in the 1m with a 289.95 and the 3m with a 313.25. Freshman Anton Svirskyi finished third with 301.4 in the 3m and with 327.45 on platform.
The men’s swimming and diving team are in shallow waters. The competition is light for No. 5 Florida as Auburn is floating behind at No. 23.
The Gators outscored Auburn 521-426 in their last meet on Nov. 20.
At the meet, junior Kieran Smith set a 46.73 personal best in the 100-yard backstroke. Sophomore Tyler Watson did the same in the 200-yard freestyle at 1:41.46.
Florida will prevent the Tigers from growing their win streak after a 209-94 wipeout last year. The teams’ all-time record is 30-16 in favor of Florida.
The meet can be watched on the SEC Network+ and live stats can be viewed on SideArm Stats.
Contact Faith Buckley at fbuckley@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @_faithbuckley
Faith is a third-year journalism student specializing in sports media. She hopes to one day work as a play-by-play announcer for the National Hockey League.
