Senior Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) won his fifth individual NCAA title on Friday night at the 2006 NCAA Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships hosted by Georgia Tech. Lochte won the 400 IM in an NCAA record time of 3:38.15. With the win, he tied 1988 Olympic gold medalist and current Florida assistant coach Anthony Nesty for the most individual NCAA titles won by a Gator.

Lochte got off to a blazing start by recording the fastest 100 butterfly split in NCAA, American and Georgia Tech Aquatic Center history with a time of 49.99. Southern California’s Ous Mellouli, who recorded the fastest time in the preliminary round, made a strong move during the final 100 yards, but could not overcome Lochte’s lead.

“The 400 IM is probably the hardest race for this kind of meet,” Lochte said, “to come up out on top feels pretty good.”

During his four-year career, Lochte has broken NCAA records in three individual events, including the 200 IM on Thursday night. Michigan’s Tom Dolan set the previous standard for the 400 IM in 1995 with a time of 3:38.18. For Lochte, tying Nesty’s 14-year-old record meant just as much as a new NCAA record.  

“It means everything,” Lochte said. “He has been my coach for about four years now. He’s not really a coach anymore; he is more like a father. I look up to him so much. To tie his record was awesome, but I still have one more race to go.”

Lochte can surpass Nesty and become the Gators’ all-time NCAA title leader during the 200 backstroke, which is scheduled to run on Saturday. 

Freshman Bradley Ally (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) earned a fifth-place finish in the 400 IM with a career-best time of 3:45.67. Ally earned his second top-10 finish of the competition and his points earned helped the Gators move into third place in the team standings through eight events.

Florida scored well during the 400 IM, with a pair of swimmers competing in the consolation final. Senior Brian Hartley (Indianapolis, Ind.) finished the event in 11th-place overall with a career-best time of 3:49.16. Sophomore Kevin Nead (Ithaca, N.Y.) finished close behind with a career-best time of 3:49.68.

Freshman Lucas Salatta (Sao Paulo, Brazil) continued to help the Gators’ run at the team title by scoring points in the 100 backstroke. Salatta swam a career-best time of 47.70 in the consolation final to finish second in the race and 10th overall in the event. 

In the relay races, Florida’s team of Lochte, Hartley, Salatta and Ally finished fourth in the 800 freestyle relay with a time of  6:21.69. The Gators won the NCAA title last season, however, a strong opening leg by Arizona Simon Burnett was too much for the Gators to overcome down the stretch. The Wildcats won the event with a time of 6:16.67.

The team of Salatta, Luca DeMatteis (Naples, Italy), Nick Borreca (Honolulu, Hawaii) and Daniel Penniman (Pensacola, Fla.) finished seventh in the 200 medley relay with at time of 1:29.90. The Gators moved up one place after Stanford was disqualified for an illegal kick on a stroke exchange. Arizona won the event in an NCAA record time of 1:23.88.

In the race for the team title, Arizona took over the lead with a score of 336.5 through 14 events. Auburn was second with a score of 331.5, followed by Stanford in third with 244.5 and Texas in fourth with 220 points. Florida continues to hold fifth-place with a score of 203. 

The 2006 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships will conclude on Saturday with the 1,650 free, 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly, 400 freestyle relay and platform diving events. The preliminaries will begin at noon, followed by the finals at 7 p.m. Fans can get live results by visiting www.ncaasports.com or www.ramblingwreck.com

Preliminary Session Recaps

200 Medley Relay

The team of Ryan Lochte, Nick Borreca, Lucas Salatta and Daniel Penniman earned a spot in tonight’s champion final by clocking a time of 1:26.64. Northwestern captured the top seed by swimming a time of 1:25.75.

400 IM

For a second consecutive day the Gators will score valuable points through an individual medley event. Ryan Lochte captured the second-seed during the preliminary round with a time of 3:46.18 to win his heat. Teammate Bradley Ally kept the competition tight through the first 300 yards, and even had the lead following the breaststroke portion of the race. Lochte pulled away during the final 100 yards and will have a chance to earn his second individual title of 2006 later this evening. Ally finished fourth in the heat with a time of 3:47.59 and advanced to swim in the finals.

Senior Brian Hartley qualified for the consolation final with a season-best time of 3:49.44. Hartley finished sixth in his heat and 13th overall. Sophomore Kevin Nead also qualified for the consolation final by swimming a season-best time of 3:50.04. Southern California’s Ous Mellouli swam a time of 3:44.76 to earn the top seed in the finals and set a new Georgia Tech Aquatic Center record. 

100 Fly

Arizona’s Albert Subirats set a pool record and earned the fastest time for Friday night’s finals. Subirats swam a time of 46.11 to win his heat. Florida did not have any entries in this event. 

200 Freestyle

Daniel Penniman swam a career-best time of 1:36.58, but it was not enough to advance to the championship finals. Penniman finished 36 th in the field of 45 swimmers. Darian Townsend (Pietermartizburg, South Africa) recorded a time of 1:37.61 to place 29th and Grant Johnson (Clearwater, Fla.) finished 40th with a time of 1:38.63. Texas sophomore Matthew McGinnis earned the top seed with a pool record time of 1:33.54.

100 Breaststroke

Sophomore Luca DeMatteis (Naple, Italy) finished 25th with a time of 55.10 and did not advance. Dave Rollins of Arizona won the preliminary session with a pool record time of 52.68.

100 Backstroke 

Lucas Salatta swam a time of 47.54 to earn a spot in the consolation final of the 100 backstroke,. Salatta topped his career-best time by two-tenths of a second and became the fourth Gator to advance to tonight’s finals in an individual event. Northwestern’s Matt Grevers recorded a time of 46.33 to earn the top seed.

3-Meter Diving

Freshman Jonathan Wilcox (Yarrow Point, Wash.) tallied a score of 235.35 to finish 34th in the 3-meter dive. Arizona State’s Joona Puhakka won the event with a score of 416.20.

Day 2 Preliminary Results

Day 2 Finals Results