GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Five past and future Florida swimmers combined to capture seven medals this past Thursday through Saturday at the 2010 AT&T Short Course National Championships at McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion in Columbus, Ohio. Former Gator All-Americans Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) and Rex Tullius (Port Orange, Fla.) led the way with two medals each.
"It can be very humbling to see so many former student-athletes have tremendous success at nationals," head coach Gregg Troy said. "To have three of those champions still train in Gainesville not only shows their commitment to long-term success and improvement, but it also helps in making our current group of Gators that much better. On top of that, it's also very promising to see two of our incoming freshmen for next year race so well in such a competitive environment."
Lochte, who won a men’s school-record seven national championships in his time at UF (2002-06), won Florida’s first medal Thursday evening with a 1:42.60 mark in the men’s 200-yard individual medley. The reigning USA Swimming Male Swimmer of the Year also took home a bronze medal, placing third in the finals of the 200-yard backstroke on the final evening of competition. Lochte additionally finished fourth (1:35.42) in the 200-yard freestyle on Friday night.
The winner of the men’s 200 free Friday was Tullius, who won gold with a mark of 1:35.03. The five-time All-American at Florida (2005-09) also won a silver medal, finishing just in front of Lochte in the 200 back with a time of 1:40.62. Tullius came close to a third medal in the 200 IM, taking fourth with a 1:43.99 mark.
Nicholas Caldwell (Sarasota, Fla.), who last month signed his national letter of intent to swim for Florida beginning in 2011, started off Florida’s presence at nationals with a fourth-place finish in the men’s 500 free. Caldwell’s time of 4:18.04 was one-tenth of a second away from earning a bronze medal. The No. 2 men’s swimming recruit in the country by CollegeSwimming.com also placed in the top 10 in the 400 IM, finishing eighth on Friday with a time of 3:52.75. Winning the bronze medal in the 400 IM was future teammate Matthew Elliott (Peoria, Ill.), a five-star recruit by Swimming World Magazine who also inked his national letter of intent with Florida last month. The USA Junior National Team member won his only medal of the meet by clocking in at 3:47.28. Elliott also placed in the top 10 in the 200-yard breaststroke, finishing sixth (1:55.98).
On the women’s side, both Stephanie Proud (Durham, England) and Gemma Spofforth (West Sussex, England) placed on the medal stand. After missing her first medal of the meet with a fourth-place finish in the women’s 400 IM Friday, Proud, a six-time All-American with the Orange and Blue (2007-09), won the 200 back Saturday night with a time of 1:52.62. While Spofforth also competed in the 200 back (sixth place), the seven-time NCAA champion at Florida (2006-10) won a silver medal Friday in the 100 back (52.13). On top of winning medals at the event, both former Gators will graduate later this month with degrees in health education and behavior and family and community studies, respectively.
Other former Gators competing at nationals included Shaune Fraser (George Town, Cayman Islands) and Omar Pinzon (Bogota, Colombia). Fraser, who this past spring closed his UF career (2006-10) with the most All-America honors of any male in school history (27), finished as high as eighth at the meet (1:36.47 in the men’s 200 free). Pinzon, who garnered 17 All-America honors in his time in Gainesville (2006-10), placed as well as 19th (1:48.89 in the men’s 200 IM). Fraser will also graduate this in a couple of weeks with a degree in finance.
