Seven past and present University of Florida swimmers combined to capture six medals this past week at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India.
Sophomore Sebastien Rousseau (Cape Town, South Africa) earned a bronze and a silver medal for South Africa, junior Jemma Lowe (Hartlepool, England) won a bronze medal for Wales and former Gator great Gemma Spofforth (West Sussex, England) captured three silver medals for England. In addition to the three Gators winning medals, junior Marco Loughran (London, England) set the school record in the men’s 100-meter backstroke.
Rousseau helped place South Africa on the medal stand twice. The sophomore swam on the men’s 400-meter medley relay team in its prelim victory, before watching his teammates win silver. Earlier in the week, the All-American swam on his country’s 800-meter freestyle relay squad, helping the team finish third on the medal stand. Rousseau also competed in the 200-meter butterfly, 200-meter individual medley and 200-meter freestyle. Rousseau finished eighth in the finals of the 200 fly with a time of 1:58.28, but his prelim time of 1:57.45 was the second-fastest time in school history. In the 200 IM, the 2008 Olympian placed seventh in the finals with a time of 2:02.65, while his prelim time of 2:02.33 marked the eighth-quickest time in school history.
Lowe was one of the highlights for Wales, winning one of four medals for the country. The 2008 Olympian, who owns the school record in the women’s 100-meter fly, took third on the medal stand in the event with a time of 58.42. The junior All-American also clocked fifth in the finals of the 200 fly with the second-fastest time in school history (2:08.28), while finishing sixth in the finals of the 50 fly and fourth in the finals of the 400 medley relay as part of the Wales’ squad.
Also competing for Wales was Loughran, who finished in the top six of all three events he competed in. The former Olympian placed fourth in the finals of the 100 back with a time of 54.68, but not before breaking his own school record in the second semifinal with a 54.45 finish. The All-American junior also finished fifth in the finals of the 50 back and sixth in the finals of the 200 back.
Also competing this week was 13-time All-American Brett Fraser (George Town, Cayman Islands), who competed for the Cayman Islands. The senior finished fifth in the semifinals of the men’s 50 free, seventh in the semifinals of the 100 free and sixth in Heat 5 of the 200 free prelims.
Shaune Fraser (George Town, Cayman Islands), who holds the men’s school record with 27 All-America honors during his time at UF (2006-10), swam in three events for the Cayman Islands during the week. Fraser concluded the week with a fifth-place finish in the semifinals of the 100 fly, a sixth-place finish in the semifinals of the 100 free and a fourth-place finish in Heat 5 of the 200 free prelims.
Leading the way for the Gators with three total medals was Spofforth, a multiple-time NCAA champion and All-American at Florida (2006-10). The world record holder in the women’s 100 back took second in both the 50 back (28.30) and 100 back (1:00.02), while joining three other English teammates in winning silver in the 400 medley relay. The former Olympian also finished fifth in the finals of the 200 back (2:09.08).
Also representing England was former Gator swimmer Stephanie Proud (Durham, England). The six-time All-American at Florida (2007-09) finished sixth in the finals of the women’s 200 back and 400 IM, respectively, while placing fourth in the first semifinals of the 100 back.
