The
Gators closed out the second night on a high note by winning the national title
in the 800 free relay at the 2013 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. On
top of that, Florida’s men collected two top-three individual finishes, two
school records and 15 All-America honors. They are currently fifth in the
standings with 196.5 points.
“We
had a couple of bad breaks but we stayed in the meet and I’m really proud of
the way the guys raced,” said Head Coach Gregg Troy. “We had a great meet
tonight. They got off and raced well the whole way. Great way to finish it with
a school record in the 800 free relay with fine swims the whole way across.
Earning
the 2013 800 free relay NCAA Championship was the group of freshman Pawel
Werner (Wroclaw, Poland), redshirt junior Sebastien Rousseau (Cape
Town, South Africa), junior Marcin Cieslak (Warsaw, Poland) and
sophomore Dan Wallace (North Berwick, Scotland). They combined for a
school record-setting time of 6:13.27.
This
is the second time in three years that Florida has come away with a win in the
800 free relay. UF also won it in 2011 and Rousseau was on that team as well.
Rousseau
had a tough break this morning but came back tonight to help the relay to the
national title. “I am really proud of Sebastien Rousseau, taking a
disappointment and coming back this evening and swimming and great relay leg,”
Troy remarked.
Cieslak,
who had an outstanding night, swam the second fastest 200 split in the entire
field (1:32.86) and pushed the relay way out in front on the third leg to give
Wallace a huge lead on the final leg. He was in the water earlier in the day
for the 100 fly where he finished second and set a new school record with a
time of 45.35.
“Marcin
Cieslak is a very versatile guy,” Troy commented. “He swam the IM event
yesterday and the 100 fly with second place today with a school record and then
the 800 free relay with another school record. He goes a 1:32 free to be the
second fastest guy in the whole field.”
Starting
the night off was the 400 IM, where Wallace swam a solid race to score a third
place finish. It is his best individual finish at the NCAA Championships as a
Gator and is his second All-America honor of the meet so far. His time of 3:39.87
improved on his personal-best from the one he set in the morning session and is
the fourth fastest time in school history.
“Wallace’s
swims were really good this evening. He was solid the whole way in the 400 IM
and had a great relay leg,” Troy said.
Swimming
in the consolation final of the 400 IM was junior Connor Signorin (East
Windsor, N.J.). Signorin went out strong and held on for a fourth place finish
in the consolation final to take 14th overall. He touched the wall in a time of
3:43.96.
The
Gators weren’t stopping there as they qualified three swimmers for the 100 fly
finals. Cieslak finished second in the 100 fly. It was his second top-two
finish in as many events so far. He clocked in with a time of 45.35, setting a
new school record in the process.
Also
scoring for the Florida in the 100 fly was senior Cameron Martin
(Clearwater, Fla.) and junior Brad deBorde (Longwood, Fla.). Martin
continued to get faster as the day went on as he set another personal-best
after touching the wall in 46.39 to finish 12th. He moved into fourth place in
school history, surpassing Associate Head Coach Anthony Nesty’s time of 46.62
set in 1992. deBorde swam in his fifth event so far of the NCAAs. He finished 14th
overall in the 100 fly with a time of 46.83.
In
the 200 free, Werner scored points for UF as he tied for 14th with a
time of 1:34.65. He earned the first All-America honors of his career as a
Gator. Then sophomore Matt Elliott (Peoria, Ill.) took to the water in
the 100 breast consolation final. Elliott secured a 14th place
finish with his time of 53.30, earning the fourth All-America honor of his
career.
The
relay group of Martin, sophomore Ricky Munch (Clifton, Va.), Cieslak and
deBorde took to the water for the 200 medley relay to open the second night of
competition. They combined to finish 13th overall with a time of 1:26.02,
moving up three spots from their qualifying seed. deBorde has continued to be
strong on relays and swam a fast 18.94 free split to anchor the team.
After
the second day of competition here are the top-10 teams: Michigan (336),
California (301.5), Arizona (234.5), Southern California (212), Florida
(196.5), Texas (192), Stanford (169), Auburn (167.5), Indiana (151) and Georgia
(106).
