The University of Florida men’s swimming and diving team rode five first place finishes throughout the day to defeat the University of Georgia, 132-111 at Georgia’s Gabrielsen Natatorium.  With the win the Gators bounce back from last weekend’s loss and improve to 3-1 overall (1-0, SEC).

“We had alot of close races today.  We lost some close ones early in the meet and it showed a lot of character to come back out and compete the second half of the meet,” said head coach Gregg Troy.

Florida got off to a strong start and continued their winning ways, finishing the 400 medley relay in first and second place.  The ‘A’ team, comprised of Rex Tullius (Port Orange, Fla.), Clark Burckle (Louisville, Ky.), Tim Hughes (Winter Park, Fla.) and Shaune Fraser (George Town, Cayman Islands) out-swam their counterparts by over two seconds to take the win, touching with a time of 3:52.98.  The Gators ‘B’ squad clocked in with a time of 3:54.29 to take second. 

Tobias Work (Falmouth, Mass.) continued to have a solid season as he turned in a second place finish in the 800 free.  Work was just behind Georgia’s Sebastien Rouault.  Cody Kauffman (Harrisburg, Pa.) finished fourth with a time of 8:26.83 while Logan Storie (Corvallis, Ore.) and Ryan Crete (Plantation, Fla.) rounded out Florida’s finishers, taking fifth and sixth place.

Fraser swam an outstanding race in the 200 free, missing first place by five one hundredths of a second.  His time of 1:53.15 was a provisional qualifying standard time.  Roland Rudolf (Budapest, Hungary) took fourth with a time of 1:54.99 while Grant Johnson (Clearwater, Fla.) and Matt Norton (Port Orange, Fla.) rounded out the top six, finishing fifth and six respectively.

Jos Smith (Milledgeville, Ga.) and Daniel Penniman (Pensacola, Fla.) combined to go two-three in the 50 meter free.  Smith finished second with a time of 24.20 while Penniman was just behind him, touching in at 24.29.

Dustin McLarty (Deland, Fla.) and Bradley Ally (Ft. Lauderdale) swept the top two spots in the 200 individual medley.  McLarty was first with a time of 2:01.60 while Ally touched second at 2:08.35.  Omar Pinzon (Bogota, Fla.) finished the race in sixth with a time of 2:09.91 and Michael Joyce (Vorhees, N.J.).

The 200 butterfly proved to be another strong event for the Gators.  J.B. Walsh (Virginia Beach, Va.) returned after his win over the weekend and placed second with a provisional qualifying time of 2:04.63.  He was followed by Hughes in third with a time of 2:05.68 and Burckle in fourth with a time of 2:05.70.

Fraser was strong again in the 100 free, finishing first with a team-best time of 52.22 seconds.  Penniman placed third with his second best time of the season at 53.16. 

Rudolf swam his second best time of the season in the 200 back, winning the event with a time of 2:03.20, marking his second provisional qualifying time in the event and third overall this season.  Pinzon was strong as well as he came to the wall in 2:04.61 to place second.  For Pinzon it was his third overall qualifying time and first in the event.  Tullius rounded out the top three, finishing with a time of 2:05.69.

Work returned for the 400 free and took the second place spot with a time of 4:00.27.  He was joined by McLarty who finished fourth with a time of 4:07.23.

Burckle had one of his strongest swims of the day in the 200 breast, missing his season best time by just hundredths to finish first with a time of 2:21.24.  He was followed by Ally who took second with a time of 2:24.15, a season best and Kyle Deery (Daytona Beach, Fla.) who finished fourth with a time of 2:26.93.  Joyce earned the seventh spot with a time of 2:33.45.

“Clark Burckle was very consistent, key leg of the relay, good breast at end of the meet,” said Troy.

Smith, Penniman, Hughes and Rudolf wrapped up the meet in style when they finished two seconds ahead of the competition with a time of 3:29.62 to finish first in the 400 free relay.  B. Fraser, McLarty, Work and Johnson took third with an overall time of 3:33.62.

On the diving boards it was Aaron Leech (Newark, Del.) and Grayson Patten (West Palm Beach, Fla.) that took the third and fourth place spots in the one-meter event.  Leech finished with a total 248.93 points while Patten had 216.45 points.  Leech returned with a third place showing in the three-meter event, earning 259.28 points while Patten finished fifth with 221.03 points.