GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Despite disappointing relay performances to close the day, the University of Florida men’s and women’s swimming and diving team had several strong performances Saturday on the second day of the 2010 Big Al Open at DeNunzio Pool in Princeton, N.J. The men enter the final day of the meet in second place with 546.5 points, while the women remain in third with 555 points.
"To be a great championship team, you have to maintain focus for all six sessions and have pride in your relay performances," associate head coach Martyn Wilby said. "Although we had some good individual swims, we lacked focus as a team. That showed in the relays at the end of the session. I'm positive the team received the message loud and clear and will come back tomorrow morning with much more focus."
The Gator quartet of freshman Ellese Zalewski (Melbourne, Australia), junior Julia Nagy (Viera, Fla.), freshman Alicia Mathieu (Marlborough, Conn.) and sophomore Sharla Milne (Lithia, Fla.) finished second in the women’s 800-yard freestyle relay with a time of 7:26.27, three seconds behind Washington State’s first-place time. One event later, the Florida foursome of sophomore Devon Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.), freshman Stephen Lichtner (Miami, Fla.), freshman George Dennison (DeLand, Fla.) and senior captain Bobby Walsh (Virginia Beach, Va.) clocked 6:56.57 to take fourth in the men’s 800 free relay.
Zalewski and Nagy combined with male junior Gabriel Huen (Caracas, Venezuela) to win the Gators’ only events of the day. Zalewski won her first collegiate event with a 53.75 mark in the women’s 100-yard butterfly. The personal best was her first NCAA “B” cut as a Gator. One event later in the men’s 100 fly, Huen swam a season-best 48.79, just five-one hundredths of a second off of Florida’s top time this season. Following the fly events, Nagy stepped on the block in the next event to capture her first victory of the season, winning the women’s 200-yard freestyle in a personal-best 1:49.93.
"Ellese continues to have her best meet as a Gator and is really performing well on relays," Wilby said. "Gabriel has listened to (head coach Gregg) Troy's instructions and I feel that is why we saw improvement tonight. It was also great to see her touch the wall first and to watch her continued improvement this weekend."
The Florida men won the men’s diving event for the second-consecutive day, with junior Jonathan Speed (Jupiter, Fla.) winning the men’s three-meter competition with a career-high 379.65. In the prelims, yesterday’s one-meter winner Anthony Lewark (Davie, Fla.) dove to a team season-high 381.40, with the junior placing second in the finals with a 367.10 score. Junior Colin Bell (Coral Springs, Fla.) dove to a season-high 361.50, finishing fourth.
In the women’s one-meter competition, senior Monica Dodson (Franklin, Ind.) was edged by less than four-tenths of a point by Rutgers’ Jen Betz (272.20), finishing second with a 271.85 score. Dodson won the prelims by over 15 points with a score of 270.65.
The final day of the annual Big Al Open starts with prelims tomorrow at 10 a.m. ET, with finals at 5 p.m. ET. Gator fans can click here for complete results from day two, and can follow the final day of competition live by clicking here. For the latest in Florida swimming and diving, fans are also encouraged to follow the program on Twitter and Facebook.
Big Al Open Team Standings After Day Two
| MEN | ||
| Rank | Team | Score |
| 1. | Princeton | 852 |
| 2. | FLORIDA | 546.5 |
| 3. | Columbia | 390 |
| 4. | Brown | 369.5 |
| 5. | Rider | 164 |
| 6. | Unattached | 29 |
| 7. | Drexel | 14 |
| 8. | U.S. Military Academy | 10 |
| WOMEN | ||
| Rank | Team | Score |
| 1. | Princeton | 806 |
| 2. | Washington State | 603 |
| 3. | FLORIDA | 555 |
| 4. | Brown | 304 |
| 5. | Rider | 204 |
| 6. | Rutgers | 46 |
| 7. | Drexel | 32 |
| 8. | Columbia | 1 |
