Athens, Ga. -- The University of Florida Men’s Swimming & Diving team notched its second SEC win with a 173-127 victory at Georgia. The women’s team was not as fortunate, falling 176-116 to the Bulldogs on Thursday at the Gabrielsen Natatorium.

The No. 3 men’s team (3-2, 2-0 SEC) returned to their winning ways by welcoming back senior Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) and sophomore Luca DeMatteis (Naples, Italy). Both missed last weekend’s meet at Texas, but responded by winning key events for the Gators on Thursday.

Lochte claimed three individual titles and reached the NCAA provisional times in all three. He finished well under the NCAA “A” time of 47.43 in the 100 back to claim first with a time of 46.62. In the 100 fly, Lochte took first in a time of 47.99, which was good for an NCAA “B” provisional time. Lochte continued to lower his season-best time in the 200 back by swimming a 1:41.65, which was good for first place.

DeMatteis, who holds the UF record in the 200 breast, won the 100 breast for the Gators on this night. He swam in a season-best time of 56.35.

Sophomore Darian Townsend (Pietermaritzburg, South Africa), continued his stellar season by finishing first in three individual events. Townsend qualified for the NCAA Championships by recording a “B” time of 1:38.07 in the 200 free. He also qualified for the NCAA Championships with a “B” time of 44.75 in the 100 free. Townsend claimed his third victory in the 50 free with a time of 20.67.

“We’re still not 100% healthy,” Florida coach Gregg Troy said, “but it’s always good to have Lochte back. Townsend, (Brian) Hartley and Lochte are on fire right now and that’s where we’d like to be. In some ways it’s a little surprising because we’ve haven’t always been this fast in October. “

Freshman Bradley Ally (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) lowered his season-best time in the 200 IM to 1:49.46, which was good enough to reach the NCAA “A” provisional time in the event. Ally reached the “B” standard last weekend in Texas.

The team of junior Bill Mrazek (Tallahassee, Fla.), sophomore Daniel Penniman (Pensacola, Fla.), Lochte and Townsend swam a 1:30.60 in the 200 MR to win the event.

In the diving competition, junior Justin Schmidt (Falcon, Col.) won the one-meter dive with a score of 289.95, while teammate freshman Jonathan Wilcox (Bellevue, Wash.) claimed victory in the three-meter event with a score of 323.84.

The No. 1 women’s swimming & diving team (3-1, 1-1) dropped its first dual meet of the season to defending national champion No. 3 Georgia (3-0, 1-0).  In spite of the loss Troy felt the women’s team raced well.

“We’re as good as we’ve ever been in October,” said Troy.  “Traditionally we are not a team that swims its best times in the fall because that’s not the way we train.  I do feel like the women stood up and raced Georgia tough, if anything we got better as the meet went on.  We swam much better on the back half than we did in the beginning and I think that’s a big positive we can take away from this meet.”

The quartet of freshman Dana Vollmer (Granbury, Texas), senior Vipa Bernhardt (Bad Hersfeld, Germany), junior Candace Weiman (Castro Valley, Calif.) and sophomore Caroline Burckle (Louisville, Ky.) started off the meet with a second place finish in the 200 medley relay, in a time of 1:43.62.

Sophomore Natalie Pike (Boca Raton) recorded an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 1:49.10 in the 200 freestyle, good for a second place finish.  Bernhardt notched her 11th NCAA provisional time of the season with a 1:02.51 effort in the 100 breaststroke, good for a second place finish.

Two Gator swimmers posted provisional times in the 200 butterfly, as Weiman took second with a 1:59.15 effort and junior Ashley Carusone (Gainesville) recorded a 2:00.91 for a third place finish.

In three-meter diving action freshman Alicia Miller (Hobie Sound) took second with a score of 256.35.  Freshman Whitney Stern (Safety Harbor) claimed fourth place with 237.60 and sophomore Sarah Ellerby (Oldsmar) posted a 209.92, good for sixth.

Pike and Burckle each notched provisional times in the 100 freestyle, as Pike swam a 50.91 to finish third and Burckle posted a 51.23 to finish fifth. In the 200 backstroke Smith recorded a provisional time of 2:00.07 and finished second, while the first automatic qualifying time of the year and first win of the meet on the women’s side came in the 200 breaststroke from a 2:14.17 effort by Bernhardt.

In the one-meter diving competition Miller captured first place with a 254.47 effort, just .53 of a point short of qualifying for NCAA’s.  Weiman captured the second Gator win of the meet with a provisional 2:03.35 effort in the 200 individual medley, while Bernhardt notched a 2:03.38, also a provisional time, to finish second.

In the 400 freestyle relay the team of Pike, Vollmer, Weiman and Burckle claimed first place with a time of 3:26.47, while the team of Healy, Bernhardt, Huff and Smith finished second with a 3:35.95.  Larson, Gilliam, Carusone and Nowotzin combined with a 3:36.95 effort, good for a third-place finish.

“We’re deeper than we’ve ever been,” said Troy.  “But it’s still not deep enough to beat Georgia at this point in the season.  They showed today why they’re the defending national champs, they’re deep all the way around.  We’re swimming without three of our best athletes right now, and we’ve got a long way to go before we’ll be a real good team.”

Sophomore Samantha Vanderbilt (Nashville, Tenn.) and junior Leah Retrum (Columbus, Ind.) did not make the trip for the Gators and sophomore Amanda Hartley (Tallahassee) fell ill during the road swing.

Complete results from Thursday’s meet can be found at www.gatorzone.com. Florida will return to the Stephen C. O’Connell Center Natatorium to open its home schedule on Nov. 11 versus Florida Atlantic at 5 p.m.

Men’s Results
Florida 173, Georgia 127

Event               Winner                                                                        Time
200 MR            Florida (Lochte, Mrazek, Townsend, Penniman)       1:30.60
1000 Free        Sebastien Rouault  (Georgia)                                     9:07.36
200 Free          Darian Townsend (Florida)                                         1:38.07
100 Back         Ryan Lochte (Florida)                                                 46.62
100 Breast      Luca DeMatteis (Florida)                                            56.35
200 Fly            Gil Stovall (Georgia)                                        1:47.82
50 Free            Darian Townsend (Florida)                                         20.67
100 Free          Darian Townsend (Florida)                                         44.75
200 Back         Ryan Lochte (Florida)                                                 1:41.65
200 Breast      Bradley Ally (Florida)                                       2:01.68
500 Free          Sebastien Rouault (Georgia)                                      4:23.49
1M Diving        Justin Schmidt (Florida)                                              289.95
100 Fly            Ryan Lochte (Florida)                                                 47.99
3M Diving        Jonathan Wilcox (Florida)                                           323.84
200 IM              Bradley Ally (Florida)                                       1:49.46
400 FR            Georgia (Hollinger, Redmon, Alleyne, Bibliowicz)      3:03.66

Women’s Results
Georgia 176, Florida 116
Event               Winner                                                                        Time
200 MR            Georgia (Aleksandra, Poewe, DeScenza, Joyce)      1:42.30
1000 Free        Stephanie Carr (Georgia)                                           9:52.85
200 Free          Mary DeScenza (Georgia)                                          1:47.36
100 Back         Aleksandra Putra (Georgia)                                        56.24
100 Breast      Sarah Poewe (Georgia)                                              1:02.15
200 Fly            Elizabeth Hill (Georgia)                                               1:58.25
50 Free            Kara Lynn Joyce (Georgia)                                         23.16
100 Free          Kara Lynn Joyce (Georgia)                                         50.43
200 Back         Aleksandra Putra (Georgia)                                        1:59.20
200 Breast      Vipa Bernhardt (Florida)                                              2:14.17
500 Free          Elizabeth Hill (Georgia)                                               4:50.87
1M Diving        Alicia Miller (Florida)                                                    254.47
100 Fly            Mary DeScenza (Georgia)                                          53.66
3M Diving        Emily Hunter (Georgia)                                               281.17     
400 FR            Florida (Pike, Vollmer, Weiman, Burckle)                  3:26.47