GAINESVILLE, Fla. – After a week of completely rewriting the University of Florida record books, the UF men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams each finished second at the conclusion of the 2011 Southeastern Conference Swimming and Diving Championships Saturday at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. The Florida women (678 points) fell just short of the University of Georgia (720), while the UF men (782) just missed dethroning the men from Auburn (799).

“I am extremely proud of the way both of our teams competed throughout this entire week,” head coach Gregg Troy said. “We left a couple of points on the board, but we also had some outstanding performances that qualified us for the NCAA Championships in several events. I want to thank all of the swimming fans that came out each day and provided our student-athletes with an incredible atmosphere to race in. As they saw, the pool here at the O’Connell Center is certainly one of, if not, the fastest pools in the country.”

POST-MEET INTERVIEW FROM HEAD COACH GREGG TROY

POST-MEET INTERVIEWS FROM UF SWIMMERS

Hosting the meet for the first time since 2005, the Gators brought home their fair share of medals and records. The Gators ended the meet with 14 conference titles won (10 men, four women), five SEC records set and seven school records either tied or broken. The Orange and Blue also posted 22 NCAA automatic marks to close out the four-day conference meet at the O’Connell Center.

Several Gators won SEC hardware for their efforts this past week. Senior Conor Dwyer (Winnetka, Ill.) took home SEC Male Swimmer of the Year, and along with Auburn’s Dan Mazzaferro, shared the Commissioner’s Trophy for the High Point Award for most individual points scored at the meet. Dwyer is the only swimmer in SEC history to take home both SEC Male Swimmer of the Year honors and the Commissioner’s Trophy in consecutive years. Freshmen Elizabeth Beisel (North Kingstown, R.I.) and Marcin Cieslak (Warsaw, Poland) (men) became the first pair of Gators to ever bring home both SEC Freshman of the Year Awards, with Beisel becoming the first Gator female since Caroline Burckle in 2005 to win the award, and Cieslak becoming the first Gator male since Bradley Ally in 2006 to be honored in the men’s side. In diving, senior Monica Dodson (Franklin, Ind.) picked up her first career SEC Female Diver of the Year Award, while head diving coach Donnie Craine was named SEC Women’s Diving Coach of the Year for the third time.

Freshman Connor Signorin (East Windsor, N.J.) started off the Gators’ final night with a second-place finish in the men’s 1,650-yard freestyle. Signorin’s personal-best NCAA “B” cut time of 14:52.11 is the fastest of any freshman in the NCAA this season and the third quickest in 2010-11. Dwyer finished right behind him with the fourth-fastest time in the country, a personal-best NCAA provisional mark of 14:52.75. Signorin’s time ranks fourth in school history, while Dwyer’s time ranks sixth. Sophomore Corinne Showalter (Sarasota, Fla.) joined them on the medal stand with a bronze finish in the women’s 1,650 free, touching the wall at a personal-best 16:02.92. Showalter’s NCAA qualifying time ranks seventh all-time at Florida.

A sweep in the 200-yard backstroke came next for the Orange and Blue, with redshirt sophomore Marco Loughran (London, England) and Beisel winning the men’s and women’s event with NCAA automatic qualifying times, respectively. Loughran swam the fastest time in the NCAA this season (1:40.11) to rank fourth in school history, while Beisel matched the Brit with her own nation-leading time of 1:51.55. Beisel’s time also ranks in the top-10 in school history (third).

Next on the podium was senior Brett Fraser (George Town, Cayman Islands) who brought home silver with a time of 42.45 in the men’s 100-yard freestyle. Fraser’s mark ranks third in the NCAA this year and third in school history.

Florida’s next trip to the medal stand came in the men’s 200-yard butterfly, where Cieslak and sophomore Sebastien Rousseau (Cape Town, South Africa) earned silver and bronze medals, respectively.  The Poland native clocked in at an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 1:42.45 to take second, marking the third-quickest time in school history and ranking second in the NCAA this season. Rousseau’s time of 1:42.80 is the third-fastest mark nationally in 2010-11 and ranks fourth in school history.

In the women’s 200 fly, junior Teresa Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa.) brought home UF’s final championship of the evening with an NCAA automatic qualifying mark of 1:53.95. The time is the third-fastest time in the country this year.

The Gators’ last trip to the medal stand came in the men’s 400-yard freestyle relay, where freshman Brad deBorde (Longwood, Fla.) teamed up with Fraser, Rousseau and sophomore Scott Sommer (Ocala, Fla.) to earn silver with an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 2:51.93. The fourth-fastest time in school history also ranks fourth in the country this season.

COMPLETE RESULTS OF 2011 SEC SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS 

Final Team Scores

MEN

WOMEN

SEC Yearly Awards Won by UF (6)

SEC Titles Won by UF at Day Four Finals (3)

U.S. Open Records Tied at Day Four Finals (1)

NCAA Records Tied at Day Four Finals (1)

SEC Records Set at Day Four Finals (1)

Stephen C. O’Connell Center Pool Records Set at Day Four Finals (8)

2011 NCAA Automatic Qualifying Times by Florida at Day Four Finals (7)