The University of Florida women’s swimming and diving team collected 27 All-American honors, brought home it’s first individual NCAA title since 2010 and finished 10th in the field with 160 points to finish the 2011-12 season. The 10^th-place finish marks the 11^th consecutive year that Florida has posted a top-1o finish at the NCAA Championships, and the 12^th time in head coach Gregg Troy’s 14-year helm of the program.

After the night was finished, Troy explained that his team “Came back strong after a fairly disappointing first day. We got a lot of makeshift relays with a lot of people at the blocks throughout the entire meet.”

“We showed a lot of pride with the way we swam, tonight, and throughout this whole three-day venture that we have been on. We had one of the best performances tonight, where we were put in a situation where we had to fight and come back from adversity – that speaks in and of itself about our team this year.

“Depth-wise we weren’t necessarily all eight cylinders with the team throughout the meet, but we managed to finish in the top-10 which is always a goal for our team at the end of the year.”

The story of the night comes from sophomore Elizabeth Beisel (North Kingstown, R.I.) who clocked a 1:50.58, the 15^th-fastest time ever, to put the 200 dorsal title back in the hands of a swimmer donning the Orange and Blue for the first time since Gator Gemma Spofforth won three straight titles from 2007-09. She joins the likes of fellow UF Alumni, Kristen Linehan who won the title in back-to-back years, 1989 and 1990.

Beisel’s top-podium finish brings Florida it’s sixth title in the event, second nationally behind Texas who owns seven 200 back titles to their name. With the win, she also becomes the first SEC athlete to win the title since Spofforth claimed the title in three consecutive years

The sophomore commanded the race from the get-go, after she turned in a 26.21-opening 50-yard split. She followed with a 54.20 100-yard effort – from there it was history. At 150-yards she separated herself by three tenths of a second clocking in at 1:22.46 to Dirado’s 1:22.75. In the final 50, Beisel pushed ahead of her competition by more than a whole second and put her hand on the wall first.

On Beisel’s swim, Troy said that, “Anytime you can push and put your hand on the wall first and win the race – that is the best thing, the greatest feeling.”

“It was a great performance by Elizabeth. She started the meet a little rocky, had to face some hard adversity off the first day of swimming to come back and win the race.”

Beisel who has claimed a World Championship and a handful of U.S. National Championships won the first NCAA title of her career when she touched the wall before any other swimmer in the pool.

While it may not seem to be a large feat in comparison, “It feels awesome, I am excited about the win” beamed the nine-time All-American. “I have been trying to get that NCAA Championship since last year, and it finally came tonight. It is a big weight off of my shoulders. Not only that, but it’s definitely good to get points for the team as we wind down here.”

Teammate, senior Teresa Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa.), who had a grueling night of swimming with a double in the 200 back and 200 fly earned podium finishes in each of her respective events in her last few swims as a Florida Gator. The now 17-time All-American collected the final two All-America nods of her collegiate swimming career on the final night of the 2012 NCAA Championships.

The 16^th came when she touched in 1:53.00 to finish fifth in the 200 back, and the 17^th when she clocked a 1:55.63 in the 200 fly for eighth overall.

With her three individual podium finishes throughout the three-day meet, Crippen totaled 38 points from each of her swims. With that number, she tied alongside of Stanford’s Elizabeth Webb for the eighth-most points generated at the 2012 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships.

“Teresa made some big commitments for the team on the first day of the meet,” said Troy. “We had to put her in some relays that she usually doesn’t swim, things she normally doesn’t train for. She really did a fabulous job there for our team. I think it took a toll on her heading into this last day.”

“She is in a tough program to start with, and putting her in those relays that she normally doesn’t swim made the entire meet just a little bit tougher for her.”

Swimming down for the Gators tonight were senior Sarah Bateman (Orlando, Fla.) and Hilda Luthersdottir (Hafnarfjordur, Iceland). Bateman picked up the 14^th All-America honor of her career after she finished 13^th in the 100 free with a time of 48.74. Luthersdottir touched in 2:10.76 in the 200 back to finish 16^th in the field and collect the third All-America selection of the meet and seventh of her young, two-year career as a Gator.

In the mile, sophomore Alicia Mathieu (Marlborough, Conn.) put together a stellar swim touching the wall in 16:08.49 to finish 12th overall, and earn her second All-American honor in the event in as many NCAA Championship appearances. The finish is an improvement from last year’s NCAA debut when she swam the 16^th quickest race in the field.

To conclude the three-day competition, Bateman kicked-off the 13th-place 400 freestyle relay with a 49.40 split, allowing them to solidify the 10^th-place overall finish. She was followed by teammates Jamie Bohunicky (Gainesville, Fla.), Beisel and Kaitlin Frehling (St. Petersburg, Fla.) – together, the four swimmers combined to stop the clock at 3:16.57

Troy also contributed his team’s success to swimmers that might have flown a little bit under the radar. Sarah Bateman and Jamie Bohunicky had absolutely tremendous performances for Florida over the past few days. They really had great relay performances. Sarah went to the blocks four times for us swimming the 100 and putting together great swims every time she dove into the water. You can’t forget about Kaitlin Frehling either – all three of them swam really well for us here.”

FULL RESULTS FROM 2012 NCAA DIVISION 1 SWIMMING AND DIVING

With the last night of NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships completed, the Gator women have finished their 2011-12 season with a top-10 national finish, and their first individual national championship title in two years with the help of Beisel and her title-winning performance in the 200 back. While the season is over, many of the Gators will continue to train and swim with the upcoming 2012 Olympic Games in London, England.

For all the latest information on Florida women’s swimming and diving, please log on to www.GatorZone.com/swimmingdiving/women or, for up-to-the-minute information on everything Florida swimming, follow swimming and diving on Twitter @GatorZoneSwimDv. You can also follow the Gators on Facebook.

2012 NCAA CHAMPIONS

Elizabeth Beisel, 200 Back, 1:50.58

SCHOOL RECORDS BROKEN AT NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

Sarah Batema, 50 Free, 21.89

Hilda Luthersdottir, 100 Breast, 1:00.05

TOP FLORIDA FINISHERS BY EVENT

50 Freestyle: Sarah Bateman, 8^th (21.89*!); 100 Freestyle: Sarah Bateman, 13^th (48.74); 200 Freestyle: Jamie Bohunicky, 10^th (1:44.79*); 500 Free: Jamie Bohunicky 22^nd (4:42.94); 1,650 Free: Alicia Mathieu, 12^th (16:08.49); 200 Backstroke: Elizabeth Beisel, 1^st (1:50.58); 100 Breast: Hilda Luthersdottir, 13^th (1:00.05*!); 200 Breast: Hilda Luthersdottir, 16^th (2:10.76); 100 Fly: Sarah Bateman, 17^th, 52.56; 200 Fly: Teresa Crippen, 8^th (1:55.63); 200 IM: Hilda Luthersdottir, 26^th (1:58.79); 400 IM: Elizabeth Beisel, 3^rd (3:59.37); 200 Free Relay: (Bateman, Bohunicky, Frehling, Crippen), 12^th (1:29.09); 400 Free Relay: (Bateman, Bohunicky, Beisel, Frehling), 13^th (3:16.57); 800 Free Relay: (Bohunicky, Beisel, Crippen, Fung), 6^th (7:00.84); 200 Medley Relay: (Beisel, Luthersdottir, Bateman, Frehling), 17^th (1:39.20); 400 Medley Relay: (Beisel, Luthersdottir, Crippen, Bateman), 10^th (3:32.93)

*personal best

!school record