The University of Florida swimming and diving program concluded day one of the inaugural three-day All Florida Invitational Friday at the top of the men’s and women’s standings. The Gators opened up the regular season at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center Natatorium for the first time since the 2003-04 season.
The Gators led from start to finish on day one, winning the first seven events in finals of the evening session. Florida State finished the day second in both the men’s and women’s, while Miami and Florida Atlantic took third in the women’s and men’s, respectively.
The 2010 NCAA Women’s Champions picked up right where they left off, winning the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:32.94 with the combination of junior Sarah Bateman (Orlando, Fla.), junior Shara Stafford (Topeka, Kan.), freshman Kaitlin Frehling (St. Petersburg, Fla.) and sophomore Jamie Bohunicky (Gainesville, Fla.). Not to be outdone, Florida’s male foursome of junior James Turner (Ft. Pierce, Fla.), senior Matthew Norton (Port Orange, Fla.), senior Conor Dwyer (Winnetka, Ill.) and Logan Storie (Corvallis, Ore.), captured the men’s 200 free relay with a time of 1:21.89.
Freshman Elizabeth Beisel (North Kingstown, R.I.) collected her first career event win, placing first in the 500-yard freestyle (4:46.66). Beisel’s mark was faster than all but three Florida times last year, as well as a qualified B-standard time for the 2011 NCAA Championships. The men’s team placed one through three as well in the 500 free, with sophomore Jason Taylor finishing first (4:28.67), senior Joey Pedraza (Miami, Fla.) taking second (4:31.00) and senior Balazs Gercsak coming in third (4:32.19).
Beisel would win her second event of the evening in the 200-yard individual medley, swimming the finals in a time of 1:59.70. Beisel’s finish was faster than all but one Florida time last year, as well as a qualified B-standard time for the 2011 NCAA Championships. Following Beisel, Dwyer and Bateman would jump back in the pool and notch their second wins of the evening, with Dwyer swimming 1:50.43 in the finals of the men’s 200 IM, and Bateman swimming 22.89 in the finals of the 50 free. Bateman’s mark was 14-tenths of a second away from being a top-10 time in school history and was faster than all but three Florida times last year.
The men’s 50 free was the only event of the night the Gators did not win, with Mark Weber of Florida State ousting Storie by 31/100ths of a second. Dwyer finished third in the event, ending his night with top-three finishes in every event swam.
The Gators capped the first day off by picking up victories in the finals of the women’s and men’s 400-yard medley relay. The tandem of Beisel, junior Daniela Victoria (Plantation, Fla.), Crippen and Stafford won the women’s event with a time of 3:44.52, while the men’s group of freshman Connor Signorin (East Windsor, N.J.), junior Robert Kennedy (Ft. Myers, Fla.), sophomore Cameron Martin (Clearwater, Fla) and Storie took first in 3:23.99.
Earlier in the afternoon, diver Monica Dodson (Franklin, Ind.), the only senior on the women’s swimming and diving team, won the three-meter diving competition with a score of 326.10. Sam Dorman of Miami won the men’s one-meter diving competition with a score of 357.55. Florida State’s Landon Marzullo finished second, while Florida juniors Anthony Lewark (Davie, Fla.) (344.25) and Jonathan Speed (Jupiter, Fla.) rounded out the top four.
Day two of the first-ever All Florida Invitational begins Saturday at 9 a.m. with prelims, followed by finals at 7 p.m. Fans are encouraged to follow the swimming and diving program on Twitter or Facebook for live updates, photos and video from the event. Admission is free for those looking to attend the events.
Team Scores After Day One
Women
Place School Points
1 University of Florida 319
2 Florida State University 279.5
3 University of Miami 239.5
4 Florida Gulf Coast University 145
5 Florida Atlantic University 128
6 Florida Southern College 63
7 Nova SouthEastern University 42
Men
Place School Points
1 University of Florida 348
2 Florida State University 302
3 Florida Atlantic University 223
4 Nova SouthEastern University 132
5 Florida Southern College 113
6 University of Miami 20
