The
University of Florida men’s and women’s swimming team sent 11 of it’s 15
qualifiers at the 2005 United States World Championship Trials into action
during the first day of competition at the IU Natatorium on Friday night.
Junior Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.)
became the first Gator swimmer to qualify for the 2005 World Championships as
he touched the wall first in a time of 4:16.83 to claim 400-meter individual
medley crown. Lochte, an Olympic gold and silver
medalist, won the race by one hundredth of a second over Robert Margalis of Georgia.
In the
men’s 400-meter freestyle the Gator quartet of Max Jaben (Overland Park,
Kansas), Brian Hartley (Indianapolis,
Ind) Matt Coan (Plantation, Fla.) and Grant
Wieczorek (Carmel,
Ind.) had strong races. The
duo of Jaben and Hartley raced to times of 3:56.69
and 3:57.92 to place 10th and 11th respectively. Completing the race in times
of 4:03.08 and 4:05.26, Coan and Wieczorek
posted 20th and 32nd-place finishes.
Competing
in the 100-meter breaststroke the UF tandem of Corey Welch (Larksville,
Pa.) and Bill Mrazek (Tallahassee, Fla.)
turned in times of 1:04.59 and 1:06.05 to finish in 18th and 32nd-place.
For the
women, sophomore Leah Retrum (Columbus, Ind.) and senior Katie
McCann (Walpole, Mass.) placed 12th and 13th respectively
in the women’s 200-meter individual medley in times of 2:18.33 and 2:18.73.
Sophomore Candace
Weiman (Castro
Valley, Calif.)
was the lone Gator swimmer in the women’s 100-meter butterfly race. The Castro Valley native finished in 15th-place in a time of
1:01.59.
In the
women’s 400-meter freestyle, freshman Kim
Larson (Longwood, Fla.)
and Katie Ball (Cincinnati, Ohio)
finished in 20th and 27th-place in clockings of
4:20.53 and 4:23.09.
The 2005
U.S. World Championship Trials continue tomorrow through April 6 at the IU
Natatorium.
-UF-
