GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Led by senior Conor Dwyer’s (Winnetka, Ill.) fastest time in the country (3:42.52) in the men’s 400-yard individual medley, the University of Florida men’s and women’s swimming team qualified 18 swimmers Friday morning for the finals of day three of the 2011 SEC Swimming Championships at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
For the second day in a row, Dwyer opened the morning session with a NCAA-leading time. The senior captain swam an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 3:42.52 in the men’s 400 IM, the sixth-fastest time in school history. Teammate Michael Joyce (Voorhees, N.J.) swam the second-quickest time in the NCAA this year with a second-place personal-best time of 3:44.28, good for ninth in school history. Also qualifying for the finals were freshman Connor Signorin (East Windsor, N.J.) and junior Brian Howell (Cincinnati, Ohio). Signorin took fourth in the prelims with a personal-best NCAA qualifying time of 3:46.73, while Howell finished sixth with a personal-best NCAA “B” cut mark of 3:48.41.
Four more Gators qualified for the women’s 400 IM, including freshman Elizabeth Beisel (North Kingstown, R.I.), who won the prelims with the second-fastest time in school history (4:05.58). The pool-record NCAA automatic qualifying time is the sixth-fastest in the country this season. The school record holder in the event, junior Teresa Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa.), qualified for the finals with a third-place season-best NCAA “B” cut time of 4:08.20. Also qualifying for the finals were juniors Kirsten Smith (Cary, N.C.) and Angelina Ballatore (Gainesville, Fla.). Smith finished in sixth with a NCAA provisional time of 4:11.43, while Ballatore touched the wall at 4:11.68 to finish eighth with a NCAA qualifying time and a new personal best.
Swimming the fastest time by a freshman in the NCAA in the men’s 100-yard butterfly this season was Marcin Cieslak (Warsaw, Poland), whose 46.49 finish ranks sixth nationally in 2010-11 and is third in school history. Redshirt sophomore Marco Loughran (London, England) also qualified in the men’s event with a personal-best NCAA “B” cut time of 46.86. The time ranks sixth in school history.
Qualifying in the women’s final of the event was junior Sarah Bateman (Orlando, Fla.), who finished seventh with a personal-best NCAA provisional time of 52.81. The mark ranks fourth in school history.
The UF men returned in the 200-yard freestyle and qualified three for Friday’s finals, all with NCAA provisional marks. Senior Brett Fraser (George Town, Cayman Islands) won the prelims by clocking in at 1:34.11, which ranks second in the NCAA in 2010-11. Finishing second with the sixth-fastest time in the country was sophomore Sebastien Rousseau (Cape Town, South Africa), who touched the wall in 1:34.51 for eighth in school history. The last Gator to qualify for the men’s final was junior Jeffrey Raymond (Davie, Fla.), who took the last spot in the finals in 1:35.66.
In the women’s 200 free, sophomore Jamie Bohunicky (Gainesville, Fla.) made the finals with a personal-best NCAA “B” cut time of 1:45.07, ranking fifth in school history in the event.
The lone Gator to qualify for the finals of the 100-yard breaststroke was freshman Hilda Luthersdottir (Hafnarfjordur, Iceland), who finished sixth with a NCAA provisional mark of 1:00.51. Her time ranks second in school history in the event and is the fourth-fastest time in the NCAA this season by a freshman.
In the men’s 100-yard backstroke, Loughran returned to the pool to finish second with an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 45.94. The personal-best time is the second-fastest in the country this year and ranks fourth in school history.
Freshman Alana Pazevic (Mill Creek, Wash.) made her first career SEC finals with a personal-best NCAA “B” cut time of 53.39 in the women’s 100 back, finishing in the eighth and final spot. Her time ranks fourth in school history and is a UF season-best mark.
