The seventh-ranked University of Florida Men’s Swimming team successfully defended its U.S. Open title on Saturday at the James E. Martin Aquatic Center in Auburn, Ala. Florida notched a pair top-three finishes on the final night of competition to build momentum heading into the championship season.  

Sophomore Darian Townsend (Pietermaritzburg, South Africa) had a big night for the Gators placing third in the 100-meter freestyle. Townsend clocked a time of 49.96 to earn his second third-place finish at the competition and an automatic qualifying time for the NCAA Championships.  

“We really focused hard on getting him qualified for the NCAA championships and wanted to get him some long course races before the Commonwealth games,” Florida head coach Gregg Troy said. “I think his weekend was a big success for him.”

Senior Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) placed eighth in the 100-meter freestyle championship final with a time of 51.17. His 85 points over the three-day competition was good enough to earn the U.S. Open High Point title for the third time in his career. Lochte previously won High Point honors in 2004 and 2002. He swam in nine events this weekend and won individual titles in the 200-meter IM, 200-meter back and the 100-meter back.

The 100-meter freestyle was won by Sun Devil Aquatics’ Nick Brunelli, who upset the heavily favored Dutch Olympian Pieter van den Hoogenband in a meet record time of 48.98.

Another international swimmer that finished a solid weekend was sophomore Luca DeMatteis (Naples, Italy). On Saturday, DeMatteis placed fifth in the 200-meter breast with a time of 2:20.35. He earned another top-five performance on Friday in the 100-meter breast.

“Luca was really focused on training for the long course races so he can compete in his country’s Olympic trials,” Troy said.  “I thought this weekend gave him a good opportunity to see where he is at.”

Sophomore Max Jaben (Overland Park, Kan.) and sophomore Dustin McLarty (DeLand, Fla.) competed in the 1500-meter freestyle finals. Jaben placed 17th with a time of 16:15.33, while McLarty placed 20th with a time of 16:21.95.

The team of Townsend, Lochte, Daniel Penniman (Pensacola, Fla.) and Brian Hartley (Indianapolis, Ind.) capped off the competition by placing second in the 4 X 100-meter relay. The foursome was edged out by the Scottish Swimming team by 14-hundredths of a second.

At the Ohio State Invitational diving competition, freshman diver Jonathan Wilcox (Yarrow Point, Wash.) earned a ninth-place finish on the three-meter springboard. Wilcox recorded a score of 290.50, while Arizona State’s Joona Puhakka won the event with 393.35 points. Freshman Aaron Leech (Newark, Del.) earned a 15-place finish with a score of 239.40 points.

Saturday’s Results

U.S. Open