The No. 1 ranked Gator women’s swimming and diving team

(3-0, 1-0) notched a second-place finish at the Dallas Classic in Dallas, Texas, finishing 12 points behind host Southern Methodist with a score of 308.

“Overall I was pleased with the way we competed,” said head coach Gregg Troy.  “We had some excellent swims, Vipa Bernhardt was excellent for us today, and so was Candace Weiman.  Both of those individuals swam a lot of events over three days and really did a great job for us.”

The Orange and Blue notched five second-place efforts and two third-place finishes in the eight day two events, after recording two first-place wins, four second-place finishes and three third-place efforts in the nine day one events.  During day two action UF added six times to its NCAA provisional qualifying list, pushing the total to 36 by nine student-athletes.

The 400 freestyle relay team of Natalie Pike (Boca Raton, Fla.), Dana Vollmer (Granbury, Texas), Candace Weiman (Castro Valley, Calif.) and Vipa Bernhardt (Bad Hersfeld, Germany) combined for a 3:24.46 effort, an NCAA provisional time and good for a second-place finish.

Pike went on to record a 4:57.20 in the 500 freestyle, held directly following the 400 medley relay, and claim fifth-place.  Mandy Huff (Gold Hill, N.C.) took 11th in the consolation final of the same event with a time of 4:59.97,

In the 200 backstroke event Jamie Reid (Orlando, Fla.) notched a third place finish with a 2:02.08, while Samantha Vanderbilt (Nashville, Tenn.) recorded a provisional time of 2:01.69 in the consolation final, good for seventh place.

Bernhardt captured second place in the 200 breaststroke in a provisional time of 2:15.88.  In the consolation final of the same event Huff posted a 2:18.47 to finish ninth.  With the effort of Bernhardt and Huff the Gators reclaimed a three point lead in the meet after falling behind SMU following the 500 freestyle event.

In the three-meter diving competition Alicia Miller (Hobie Sound, Fla.) posted a fifth-place finish with a score of 211.35.

Vollmer notched a second-place finish in the 100 freestyle in a provisional time of 50.89, while Vanderbilt finished 12th with a time of 53.59.  In the 200 butterfly Weiman captured second place in a provisional time of 2:00.41, while Reid posted a 2:08.03, good for 12th.

In the 200 individual medley Bernhardt notched a 2:04.38, good for second place, while Pike finished ninth in the consolation final of the same event with a 2:05.54.

In the final event of the meet, the 200 Freestyle relay, UF posted a third place effort as the team of Vollmer, Weiman, Vanderbilt and Huff recorded a time of 1:34.13.  In the first leg of the race Vollmer notched a provisional 50 freestyle split of 23.42.

Florida finished out the Dallas Classic with 308 points.  No. 9 SMU took top honors with a point total of 320, while No. 6 UCLA finished third with 302, No. 12 Wisconsin took fourth with 299, South Carolina scored 213 for a fifth place finish and No. 25 Washington rounded out the field in sixth with 202.

The Dallas Classic, a competition which only allows each team to enter eight swimmers and one diver, features mostly sprint events.  Troy was especially pleased with the efforts of the Gators, as they were swimming without Caroline Burckle (Louisville, Ky.) due to an illness, and were forced to compete short-handed.

“I’m really proud of the way the girls swam today, and the character they showed,” said Troy.  “We had to do some different things and some people had to swim some events they rarely or never swim after we pulled Caroline out of our line-up.  Natalie Pike and Mandy Huff really kept us in the meet, swimming in events they aren’t accustomed to.  It turned out to be a really exciting meet, it came down to the last event and there were three teams that could have won the whole thing.”

The Gator women return to the water Oct. 27 when they travel to Athens, Ga., to take on the No. 3 Bulldogs in SEC dual meet action.

Florida Women Ranked Top Team in the Nation

The College Association Swimming Coaches Association of America named the Gators its top pick in its first top 25 poll of the year, released Oct. 20.  The women received 198 points in the poll, compiled by 16 Division I assistant and head coaches.

Coach Troy was pleased his team was acknowledged in the poll, but thinks the Gators have a lot of work to do before they deserve the No. 1 spot.

“Those rankings don’t really mean a whole lot,” said Troy.  “I’m not sure that we’re the No. 1 team in the country at this point, but it is nice for people to think we are.  This is a long season and we’ve got a lot of swimming to do before we really prove we’re the best.  Right now we’re ahead of where we’ve been in the past at this point in the season, but we have the potential to be so much better.”

Other teams in the top five include No. 2 Auburn (191), No. 3 Georgia (179), No. 4 Stanford (171) and No. 5 Arizona (168).  The Orange and Blue were last ranked No. 3 in the final poll of the 2004-05 season by the CSCAA and claimed a fourth place finish at the 2005 NCAA Championships.

Florida, 2nd of 6

-UF-