The 2012 Southeastern Conference swimming and diving
championships came to a close Saturday night at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center
in Knoxville, Tenn. In a tight finish, the Florida men (700) narrowly missed
the top spot, to sit behind Auburn (730.5) in the runner-up spot, for the
eleventh conseutive year, while the UF women finished third behind the
University of Georgia (781), and host, Tennessee (629.5)
Throughout the four-day competition four Gators combined to
don eight conference crowns (5 men, 3 women), went on to make 20 other trips to
the medal stand and collected eight automatic qualifying tickets to NCAAs in
March. Sophomores Elizabeth Beisel (North
Kingstown, R.I.) and Brad deBorde (Longwood,
Fla.) also combined to break three UF records in their respective events.
Additionally, Beisel joined teammate Marcin Cieslak (Warsaw, Poland) as the duo was named the 2012 SEC
Female and Male Swimmer of the Year, respectively. It is the second consecutive
year that they have each taken home conference honors following the
championship meet, as last year they were each named the SEC Female and Male
Freshman Swimmer of the Year. The announcement also marks the third straight
year that head coach Gregg Troy has
produced the male swimmer of the year.
The recognition came after the two were the lone swimmers at
the conference championships to take home three individual gold medals.
The pair were dually awarded the Commissioner’s Trophy High
Point Award as they each collected 60 points at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center.
Beisel becomes just the second female Gator to win the Commissioner’s Trophy,
joining two-time award winner, Gemma Spofforth (2009, 10), while Cieslak
becomes just the eighth Gator to bring home the award.
It is only the second time in Florida swimming and diving
history that Troy’s swimmers have taken home both high point awards.
“Obviously, you never like to come out on the short end, but
we had some tremendous, outstanding performances from our swimmers,” said Troy.
“We accomplished one of our main goals coming into Knoxville, and got some
automatic qualifying times for the NCAA meet – which we both wanted and
needed to do.”
“I was really proud with the effort that we got from
everyone,” remarked Troy. “It was a team effort, everyone battled and raced
real well, they gave their all until they touched the wall.”
Beisel nabbed her third medal of the meet when she finished the
200 back in 1:49.82 – the fourth fastest time ever recorded in NCAA
history – coincidentally enough, it is Gator great, Spofforth, that holds
the NCAA record at 1:48.34. She becomes only the fifth swimmer under 1:50
joining Spofforth, Elizabeth Pelton (1:49.16), Natalie Coughlin (1:49.52) and
Kate Fesenko (1:49.92) as swimmers to hit the sub-1:50 marker.
While the time doesn’t move her atop the record book, it
bumps her up from third to second all-time in the Gators’ history. With the
win, the sophomore has taken home a gold each night of individual competition
at the 2012 SEC swimming and diving championships.
“It means a lot to get the win, especially on the
last night here at the SEC meet. It has been such a long season, and I really have
to thank Teresa (Crippen) for always being there with me through training - she
deserves so much and is swimming really well. I am just glad I was able to get
the win for the team.”
The win also defended her 2011 title. As the sophomore has
claimed both the 200 back and 400 IM conference crown in the two years that she
has donned the Orange and Blue. In her trip to the medal stand, Beisel was
followed by Gator and U.S. National teammate, Teresa Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa.), who touched in 1:58.37 for
third, and a bronze medal.
Fellow sophomore, Cieslak, also claimed his third piece of
gold hardware when he finished the 200 fly in 1:42.43 – the nation’s
fastest time on the year, and an automatic qualifying mark to NCAAs. In his
first two years as a Florida Gator and SEC competitor, Cieslak has finished one-two
in the event.
“It feels great. This is my second time in the SEC Championships.
Last year I got second, and this year I got first. This is my favorite race so
I feel really great with the win.”
The 2012, 200 fly champion was followed by freshman
teammate, Dan Wallace (North
Berwick, Scotland), whose personal-best time of 1:44.81 earned him his second
silver medal of the meet and allowed for a Gator one-two finish.
A pair of freshmen also made a trip to the medal stand as Eduardo Solaeche-Gomez (Madrid, Spain)
and Matt Elliott (Peoria, Ill.)
recorded the fourth, and fifth best 200 breast stroke times in Florida history
with career-best efforts of 1:55.54 and 1:55.75, respectively.
Crippen, who finished third in the night’s opening event
added another top-three finish when she closed out the Gators’ individual
events with a second-place time of 1:55.16 in the 200 fly.
