The night
may have not have been swam according to plan – but the Gators still put
together strong swims and retain a positive outlook heading into the final
night of competition at the 2012 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships at the
James E. Martin Aquatic Center in Auburn, Ala. With 97 points, the Gators are
just shy of a top-10 spot in the field coming in at 11th – two
points behind 10th-seeded Arizona State with 99 points –
continually seeking strong swims on Saturday.
“We
raced really well, much better today than yesterday,” started Florida head
coach Gregg
Troy. “We were a little quicker, just a little stronger in the morning, and
while l am a little disappointed with some of the results, all the girls that
swam tonight gave terrific efforts.”
Many
dubbed the 400 IM the “race of the meet” from the get-go. It featured a stacked
field that was predicted to not only threaten, but also crash through the NCAA
record with the Gators’ very own Elizabeth Beisel (North Kingstown, R.I.) as a
contender to accomplish the feat.
While
she wasn’t able to break the record, Beisel swam the third, sub-four-minute
effort of her career in as many races when she touched in 3:59.37 for the third
lowest swim overall. While it didn’t crack her own personal-best, school-record
time of 3:58.35 set at the 2012 SEC Championships, it marks the seventh fastest
400 IM in NCAA history. With that feat, she holds three of the top-seven times
in the event.
Beisel
was bested by the defending 400 IM NCAA Champion, Katinka Hosszu of USC, who
broke the NCAA, American and U.S. Open record after stopping the clock at
3:56.54, and Cal’s Caitlin Leverenz who clocked in at 3:57.89 – a time
also good enough to best all three standing records.
Fellow
Florida teammate, Teresa Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa.), who also appeared in the 400 IM
championships ‘A’ finals finished sixth overall with a 4:04.83 swim. The finish
gives her nine individual All-American honors and 14 overall throughout her
time at Florida. The senior has her toughest day tomorrow, with a double in the
200 back and 200 fly where she finished fourth and sixth, respectively, at last
year’s NCAA Championship meet.
Senior
Kirsten
Smith (Cary, N.C.) swam down for the Gators in the 400 IM, stopping the
clock at 4:13.59 to finish 16th in the field and help give the
Gators a point and push them into the top-10 team standings.
In
Troy’s retelling of the 400 IM, “Both Elizabeth and Teresa gave great efforts
in the 400 IM. It was a little short of what we think we can do, but there are
no complaints. Everybody raced well and then came back and swam hard in the 800
freestyle relay.”
The
Gators also had strong performances from junior Jamie Bohunicky (Gainesville, Fla.) and
sophomore Hilda
Luthersdottir (Hafnarfjordur, Iceland).
