The
University of Florida men’s swimming and diving team finished the season with a
sixth place finish at the 2013 NCAA Championships at the IU Natatorium. The
Gators collected a national title, 38 All-America honors and four school
records over the course of the three day meet.
“We
had a really good morning,” said Head Coach Gregg Troy. “We got people where we
wanted them to be, just ran a little short on gas. We thought maybe we could be
fourth today, but great effort by our guys and I am really proud to be around
them. We needed one more scoring swim but we just didn’t quite get what we
needed.”
UF
finished the meet with 285.5 points. It was the 14th-consecutive
year that Florida has finished in the top-10 at the NCAA Championships, all
coming under current head coach Gregg Troy.
Finishing
the 2013 NCAA Championships with three second place finishes in as many events
was junior Marcin Cieslak (Warsaw, Poland). His swim in the 200 fly set
a new UF record as he touched the wall in 1:40.62. It capped off a stellar meet
as he did not finish lower than second in an individual event and was part of
the school record setting and NCAA Champ 800 free relay. Cieslak had the most
All-America honors on the team and personal-best seven during the three day
meet.
The
200 fly was a strong event for the Gators with two more swimmers taking to the
water in the championship final. Redshirt junior Sebastien Rousseau
(Cape Town, South Africa) scored a fourth place finish in the event after
posting a time of 1:42.20. He earned his third All-America honor of the meet
and ninth of his career.
Grabbing
a sixth place finish in the 200 fly was senior Cameron Martin
(Clearwater, Fla.) who stopped the clock at 1:43.35 to earn the seventh
All-America honor of his career. The swim closed out his excellent career as a
Florida Gator.
In
yet another school record setting swim, sophomore Matt Elliott (Peoria,
Ill.) continued to cut time as the day went on. He had set the school record
earlier today in the 200 breast, but came out in the finals and did one better
finishing in a time of 1:53.79. He finished sixth in the event to earn his
third All-America honor this week.
Senior
Jason Taylor (Plant City, Fla.) closed out his career as a Gator with a
personal-best performance in the 1,650 free. Taylor cut seven seconds off of
his best time as he stopped the clock at 14:55.74 to finish 16th overall in the
event and earn an honorable mention All-America honor, the first of his career.
Two
other Gators dove in for the mile as freshman Arthur Frayler (Fort
Washington, Pa.) and sophomore Carlos Omana (Miami, Fla.) finished 21st
and 36th respectively. Frayler touched the wall in a time of 14:57.95
and Omana stopped the clock in 15:28.68.
Making
his first appearance in an individual final was freshman Corey Main
(Auckland, New Zealand). Main swam in the consolation final of the 200 back and
finished in a time of 1:41.91 to place 13th overall in the event. He
earned honorable mention All-America, the third for him at the NCAAs.
Florida
closed out the meet with a sixth place finish in the 400 free relay. Junior
Brad deBorde (Longwood, Fla.) dove in the water to leadoff the group. He laid
down his personal-best 100 free time with a 42.74 to start the race. deBorde
was a key member of four of the five relays and earned the second most
All-America honors on the team with six.
Next
in the water was Rousseau, who had competed in the 200 fly earlier in the
night. He was followed by Cieslak who split 42.59 to round out his outstanding
performance this week and then sophomore Matthew Curby (Oviedo, Fla.) anchored
the relay as they combined for a time of 2:51.74.
With
the conclusion of the 2013 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, the Florida
men have finished their 2012-13 season with a sixth place finish. It was the 13th-consecutive
top-10 finish for the Orange and Blue.
