In Southeastern Conference swimming and diving action the No. 7 Florida men’s team (9-3, 5-1) defeated Tennessee123-113 while the No. 4 Florida women’s team took down the No. 16 Tennessee Vols, 129-114, in dual meet action. The Orange and Blue women move to 10-2 for the season, 5-2 in the SEC, and 20-0 in its all-time standings against the Volunteers. The women notched a total of five NCAA provisional swims during the meet, although they didn’t travel with a full squad.

“We had some good swims today,” said head swimming coach Gregg Troy. “But it was pretty much a soft meet line-up today. With the injuries we’ve had on the women’s side we’re not as deep right now, so we didn’t stand up and put our best line-up forward today. Tennessee has a good team though, and we knew they would race us tough.”

The Gators notched their first of six first-place finishes in the 400 medley relay, as the quartet of Samantha Vanderbilt (Nashville, Tenn.), Vipa Bernhardt (Bad Hersfeld, Germany), Candace Weiman (Castro Valley, Calif.) and Dana Vollmer (Granbury, Texas) notched an NCAA B time of 3:43.79. Caroline Burckle (Louisville, Ky.) claimed first-place in the 1000 freestyle in a time of 10:04.40, a race Troy was particularly pleased with.

“Caroline Burckle turned in another strong swim for us today in the distance events,” said Troy. “She’s been battling some sickness the past couple weeks, but I think she’s really starting to turn around now and the swims she turned in today are an indication of that.”

Vollmer kept the winning trend alive with a top finish in the 200 freestyle in a provisional time of 1:47.20, her fourth of the season in that event. Colleen Healy (Cape Coral) and Natalie Pike (Boca Raton, Fla.) tied for second in the 50 freestyle as each touched the wall in 24.23.

In the 200 individual medley Weiman notched the third provisional time of the meet for the Gator women with a 2:03.02. The Gators posted the top three times in the 200 butterfly, as Bernhardt claimed first in 2:03.81 while Jenny Lago (Wellington) and Mandy Huff (Gold Hill, N.C.) tied for second with a time of 2:05.75.

Vollmer’s second provisional time and top finish of the meet came in the 100 freestyle as she recorded a 49.88. Jamie Reid (Orlando) took second in the 200 backstroke in a time of 2:01.79, while Laurabeth Guenthner (Wellington) led the way in a strong showing by UF in the 500 freestyle. Guenthner, Kim Larson (Longwood, Fla.) and Stephanie Cota (Granite Bay, Calif.) finished second, third and fourth in the distance event with times of 4:56.22, 4:56.79 and 4:57.46.

Bernhardt continued her season-long domination of the breaststroke events with her second top finish of the day in the 200. A provisional time of 2:15.28 earned her first place, as she touched the wall more than four seconds ahead of the closest Tennessee challenger. In diving action Alicia Miller (Hobie Sound, Fla.) led the Gators with a second-place finish and NCAA qualifying score of 276.67 in the one-meter competition, while Whitney Stern (Safety Harbor) scored a 267.45 to take third in the three-meter.

The seventh-ranked men’s team earned its third consecutive win over Tennessee, 123-133, on Saturday afternoon. The Gators won six swimming events before exhibitioning the final three races.

Florida opened the meet by placing first in the 400 medley relay with a season-best time of 3:16.35. The team of senior Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.), freshman Bradley Ally (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), sophomore Tim Hughes (Winter Park, Fla.) and senior Nick Borreca (Honolulu, Hawaii) topped the previous best of 3:16.40, which was set at the Purdue Invitational earlier this season.

Sophomore Tobias Work (Falmouth, Mass.) won the 1000 free for the third time this season with a time of 9:07.00. Sophomore Max Jaben (Overland Park, Kan.) clocked a season-best time of 9:21.32 to earn second place, while sophomore Dustin McLarty (DeLand, Fla.) placed third in a time of 9:25.90.

The Gator distance swimmers had a strong day, not only sweeping the 1000 free but taking four of the top five positions in the 500 free. Work led the way by placing first in a time of 4:27.62 for his second individual victory of the afternoon. Jaben placed second in a time of 4:33.07, while sophomore Kevin Nead (Ithaca, N.Y.) and McLarty placed fourth and fifth respectively.

“They were just so tired earlier in the year it was hard for them to race,” Florida head coach Gregg Troy said. “The work they put in all year is now starting to show up. Last week Max Jaben had a big mental lift against Auburn and swam well again today. Tobias has been good for us all the time.” 

Lochte remained undefeated in dual meet races this season and has not lost a race since his sophomore year. On Saturday he won both the 200 free (1:36.89) and 200 back (1:43.27).

“I think what makes it’s a big accomplishment because we’re not hiding him,” Troy said. “He is racing different events and doing a full training schedule all the time. It’s not by design; he just does not like to lose. That type of streak would be like a quarterback not throwing an interception for three seasons.”

Ally continued to establish himself as one of the top medley racers in the nation, by winning the 200 IM for the fifth time this year. Ally’s time of 1:49.41 was two seconds faster than Tennessee’s Casey Dauw, who finished second. Freshman Ron Ballatore (Gainesville, Fla.) place third with a time of 1:52.85, while Nead placed fourth with a time of 1:52.87.

Freshman Jonathan Wilcox (Yarrow Point, Wash.) bounced back from a sore back last week to win the one-meter dive with a score of 300.37. Junior Justin Schmidt (Falcon, Col.) placed second with a score of 284.40.

Next up the Gators return to the water on Senior Day at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center, Feb. 4 at 11 a.m. as Indian River Community College visits. Complete results from Friday’s double dual meet are available at www.gatorzone.com.

-UF-

Women’s Results

Florida – 129, Tennessee - 114

Men’s Results

Florida 123, Tennessee 113