The Florida Gators are heading into the 2014-2015 season with some of their major players from last year’s 3rd place team missing, but the sting of those losses is somewhat dampened by a large freshman roster which includes one star swimmer in Caeleb Dressel.
The Gator men lost a total of six individuals of their 2013-2014 roster which includes Sebastian Rousseau, Brad DeBorde, and Marcin Cieslak who all came up with a combined total of 104 points in individual events and played crucial roles on the relays at last year’s NCAAs.
There’s no denying that Florida will be hurting and looking to fill roster spots with a large incoming freshman class which includes a whopping 17 athletes to add to the eight swimmers that will be returning who scored points at last year’s NCAA Championships.
It seems as though it’s a rebuilding year with many of the Gators’ stars gone, as the Gators crew include a large number of freshman with potential to score in the upcoming years. Many of the freshman include freestyle swimmers which will help in keeping the relays afloat.
Other than Caeleb Dressel, the first-ever 18-second high-school-age 50 freestyler, it’s probably a stretch to expect major NCAA points out of the rest of the freshman class.
Last Season Recap
The Gators went into the NCAA as the SEC Champions. With a very strong team which included many of their stars they were able to put up 1440 points at the SEC Championships to take down Auburn who finished behind them with 1280.5.
Although Auburn kept it rather close, the Gators were able to establish themselves over Auburn and other SEC schools at the NCAA Championships, finishing third with a total of 387 points finishing behind the Longhorns who produced a total of 417.5.
Out of those 387 points that the Gators scored, 104 of them came from three individuals with the likes of Marcin Cieslak, Brad DeBorde, and Sebastian Rousseau.
The Florida relays all placed in the top eight, and the Gators were able to come away with an extremely successful season.
Caeleb Dressel Coming In Fast
One of the most awaited college freshman of the past few years in swimming has been Caeleb Dressel. Dressel, from the Bolles School Sharks, has had what can only be described as a legendary high school career, and is bringing times to the table that are in scoring contention at the NCAAs.
His personal best of 18.94 in the freestyle puts him right in the mix for gold. Last season it took an 18.95 for two swimmers to tie for the NCAA title. With so many good names in the 50 freestyle including three or four swimmers that can definitely dip under the 19 second barrier, it should be a race down to the touch for gold.
Dressel isn’t a one-event swimmer however. His talent spans across a multitude of events which includes the 100 freestyle where he’s thrown down a 42.85. He’ll need to be faster than that to make finals this season at NCAAs most likely. Approximately a 42-mid will most likely be the cutoff point.
His 200 is a safer bet than his 100 for making a final at this point in the game, holding a 1:34.69 which should at least get him into the consolation final, and will definitely get him on the 4×200 freestyle relay which lost two major legs with the likes of Cieslak and Rousseau gone.
One more event that Dressel will excel at is the 100 fly. He currently holds a 45.99, which should get him a spot in the consolation-finals at the least. He’ll most likely get to swim the fly leg on the medley relay, again replacing a very quick leg which Cieslak swim in previous years.
Although those are his best events and he’s been listed as a freestyle and fly swimmer on the Florida Gators roster, Dressel has an all-around talent that can span many events. Coach Gregg Troy has already raved about Dressel’s versatility, and we’ll probably see him in a range of events this regular season, including the 200 IM. He’s going into his collegiate career as an amazing piece of clay which Troy will work to mold into an amazing college swimmer.
Freshman Class
Other than Dressel, there aren’t many swimmers who are likely to score in their freshman year which hurts the Gators chance at coming in third again. Dressel, as successful as he is predicted to be, won’t be able to replace the points lost with some of Florida’s top swimmers not returning, which will hurt the Gators’ placing drastically.
The majority of the freshman class includes swimmers who have limitless potential in the freestyle events for the mass majority. It seems as though the Florida coaching staff have picked up many middle-distance freestylers as well as swimmers who can swim both the 100 and the 200. These types of swimmers are essential for rebuilding relays, so it seems as though they’re thinking ahead.
There are three freshman under the 1:40 mark in the 200 freestyle: Andrew Brady, Ben Lawless, and Max Bungert.
Brady, the fastest of the three swims a 1:39.20 in the 200. His 500 and 1650 aren’t bad as well, his 500 being a 4:24.71 and his 1650 being a 15:46.33. His 500 time has a lot of promise. Some of the top freestylers in the 2014-2015 freshman class in the NCAA are swimming times similar, with a vast majority posting 4:22s and 4:24s. Brady fits right into that category, and depending on his progression he could be a point-scorer down the road.
The coaching staff obviously see potential in their young freestylers. Brady also swims the IMs. His best event out of the 200 and 400 is definitely the latter where he swims a 3:57.02. That’s a solid time for a freshman swimmer and again it’s a time that can be worked with towards molding Brady into a point-scoring swimmer.
Max Bungert doesn’t swim the IMs, however he has a wider range of freestyle times which may have been one of the most desirable attributes to his swimming. His 50 freestyle is a 21.49, his 100 a 47.09, his 200 a 1:39.87, his 500 a 4:31.24, and his 1650 a 16:04.19. It seems as though his mid-distance events are his speciality, and he’ll add another number to the mid-distance training group that’s going to be jam packed with numerous freshman this fall.
Ben Lawless is very similar to Bungert although he targets some of the longer events more effectively. His 1650 is a 15:20.74 which is a very workable time considering that to score points at the NCAA a swimmer would need to be a give-or-take a few seconds under the 15-minute mark. His 500 is also in fairly good shape, although not as good as his 1650, sitting at 4:24.79. His 200 is a 1:39.40.
There are a few other swimmers who will be added to the freestyle training group, the rest specializing more in the mid-distance range than the distance events.
Quinn Cassidy will join the IM training group, having a personal best time of 1:48.91 in the 200 IM. His specialities are the IM and breaststroke events where the IMs are a little faster considering that his 100 breast is a 56.50 and his 200 is a 2:06.16. Erik Kahr will join him swimming breaststroke as he’s in a similar range with a personal best of 56.67, however his 200 is better at 2:04.62. Kahr set both of those personal bests this season.
The Gators didn’t score points in the diving events at last year’s NCAAs, however they’ve recruited some solid divers including Geoffrey Gagnon. Gagnon may have the potential to get on the board at NCAAs and add some success to the Gators program where they didn’t have it before.
Overall, the freshman class is a work in progress. There’s tons of talent, however not many swimmers other than Caeleb Dressel that will be all that competitive this season. The freestyle group Florida has put together will prove success in the coming years and be an important asset to re-developing their relays.
Returning Swimmers
Dan Wallace had an incredible summer this year representing Scotland at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. Wallace returned with a Commonwealth title in the 400 IM which included a British record which he set at 4:11.04.
He also finished second in the 200 IM with a time of 1:58.72 which was a Scottish record, and took fifth in the 400 freestyle with another Scottish National record of 3:46.11.
Wallace finished second at last year’s NCAA Championships in the 500 freestyle with a 4:11.62, second in the 400 IM with a 3:38.17, and anchored the 800 freestyle relay with a 1:33.13 split which was the fastest out of all Florida swimmers.
This season, it seems as though Wallace could improve himself even more after the success he had over the summer. The 400 IM would be an extremely tough battle for him, and it’s most likely that he’ll come away with another silver in that event. The fastest swimmer ever in the 400 yard IM, Chase Kalisz of Georgia, will be returning and he’s most likely to come away with another gold.
In the 500 free however, Wallace could improve himself. Cristian Quintero of Southern California won the event last season with a 4:10.02. Wallace came back in 4:11.62 to finish second. He improved significantly in the 400 long course freestyle, so the potential to come back and beat Quintero this season is there. It should be quite the neck-and-neck battle, however the outcome is not set in stone and this is one Wallace could definitely win.
Other than those two events, Wallace could score points in either the 200 free or the 200 IM. He swam the 200 fly at last year’s NCAAs and failed to make the consolation final. If he opts for the 200 free or 200 IM he could definitely make the A-final and score some extra points for Florida that they didn’t get last season.
Other than Wallace, Mitch D’Arrigo will be one of the most important pieces to the Florida roster. He scored in three events last season which included the 200, 500 and 1650 freestyles. On top of being such a dominating freestyle swimmer he was a very important part of the 800 freestyle relay where he led it off last season.
Considering his wide-range of freestyle talent, D’arrigo won’t just be important in scoring points, he’ll be important in making the training environment for the freshman extremely competitive and challenging. With his ability to swim almost any freestyle event, he’ll be there to challenge all the freshman who will be in the freestyle training group in every practice.
This will help turn them into relay swimmers, and will help D’arrigo. Arthur Frayler will also be a swimmer that will make the practices challenging, specifically for the distance athletes. Frayler was third at last year’s NCAAs with a 14:43.08 in the 1650.
Frayler has limitless opportunity to win the 1650 this season as the two swimmers who finished ahead of him last season, Connor Jaeger and Jeremy Bagshaw both graduated. Other than those two, two more swimmers in the top eight graduated meaning that D’arrigo could also sneak in for a top three finish.
The freestyle talent on the team is outstanding, however one area that they lack is the backstroke, however Corey Main can carry the backstroke events. Main underperformed last season at NCAAs and has potential to make the finals in both backstrokes. The depth in NCAA backstroke is huge, so making the final is no easy feat.
Main finished 16th in the 200 backstroke last season with a time of 1:42.59 which was almost two full seconds slower than his personal best. He failed to make the consolation final in the 100, but led off the 400 medley relay with a 46.21.
If Main is on his game this season, he’ll be able to score some points in the backstrokes without a doubt. He’s got the talent, he just needs to swim hard in prelims to make sure he gets into those finals.
Eduardo Solachez-Gomez will be important to the relays as well. He swam with Main on the 400 medley relay splitting a 52.10 on the breaststroke leg. He also swam on the 200 medley relay splitting a 24.29 for his 50 breaststroke.
Individually, Gomez finished 11th in the 100 breast and 10th in the 200 breaststroke. This season, making the jump from the B-final to the A-final will make a big difference for the overall outcome of the team. If Gomez can do that, it will add to the point total.
He’ll have teammate Matt Elliott to contend with in the 200. Elliott was ninth with a 1:53.30 last season. He’ll also need to make the transition from a B-final to an A-final swimmer in the race. He’s right on the cusp, and can definitely do it.
Florida’s breaststroke freshman don’t have the potential to get on the relays with Gomez around. Gomez will most likely have his spot on both of the medley relays again this season, swimming a very important leg that will help dictate the success of the medley relays.
Relays
The Florida relays took some hard hits with Marcin Cieslak, Brad DeBorde, and Sebastian Rousseau graduating, however they might not be in as bad shape as previously thought.
The 200 freestyle relay still has Corey Main and Matt Curby who can throw down some great freestyle legs. Calaeb Dressel will most likely get a spot on that team, leaving one spot open. That spot could go to Pawel Werner who was a 19.84 in the 50 freestyle at NCAAs last season.
The medley relays will fall back in their placing. The 400 lost the 100 fly champion and the 50 freestyle bronze medallist, two very important swimmers on the relays. Dressel will most likely get the fly spots, depending on how his schedule is structured at the NCAAs. The freestyle spot could go to Werner as well, his personal best sitting at 43.52 in the 100.
The 800 free relay will need two big swimmers as well. Dressel could swim on that, but again, it will depend on his schedule. Other than that the two spots are wide open and it’ll take the season to find the two swimmers to fill the spots. It could see Werner or Curby stepping up and taking part in the relay as well.
The 400 freestyle relay isn’t in too much danger. Dressel can leadoff the relay faster than DeBorde did last year if he’s on his game, and Werner can fill the other slot where Cieslak split a 43.18 last season. The relay could actually be improved if Dressel and Werner are put on it.
What To Expect
Florida will most likely fall a few placements this season with the hard blows they faced with Cieslak, Rousseau, and DeBorde gone. The returning swimmers will hold on and keep them most likely in the top six.
The addition of Calaeb Dressel will help ease the pain as well, and could help them stay in the top five. Their relays aren’t going to fall too much, but it’ll be a coaching decision to see which relays Dressel will swim on. At the current moment, his times dictate that he could potentially be a member of every single relay.
This appears to be a recovery year for Florida, but if the returning class are able to grind it out to the last drop, Florida should be able to keep their title as one of the best teams in both the NCAA and SEC.
Texas and Cal are going to be in a slugfest this year.
I wish they’d dual each other like the ladies did.
U of FL is a class program – perennial top 5. They have an outstanding group of coaches (men’s and women’s), amazing facilities and strong team spirit. Not to mention the long list of Olympians (men and women). For you recruits, U of FL is by far and away the strongest academically in the SEC and one of the best Publics in the US, unless you are looking at Engineering over swimming then you might want to also consider being an Aggie. Best of luck this year!!
Howdy, thetroublewithx…I think swimswam is running down the list of last year’s final rankings…with Florida finishing ’14 NCAAs at #3. Therefore, Texas will be next, and Cal last. Despite being a huge Cal fan, I can easily see swimswam listing Texas as the team to beat for this year’s team title….though an argument can be made for Cal, as well. Texas looses very little in terms of scoring (though Hixon’s points will be critical), and most of their freshmen class can score at NCAAs in multiple events – a justifiable testament to their stellar abilities. Of course, they return a super talented class, without a doubt. And, one can expect Conger will most certainly exceed last year’s results, which bodes… Read more »
I pretty much agree. If Hixon stayed at Texas, I could see a pretty strong argument for their potential #1 ranking. At a very high level, Texas lost Hixon but Cal also lost some good seniors. And Texas’ frosh class might score the most out of any other class. So I expect another close race to #1 between Cal and Texas.
Texas wins this year going away
I kind of want to see SwimSwam rank Texas ahead of Cal, just to see the vast number of indignant comments that would surely ensue. 🙂
TheTroubleWithX – we haven’t ranked anyone yet, these numbers are just based on NCAA finish. But..if it were a ranking…there would be fireworks on both sides. Ha.
thx, Braden…i was typing my note when you replied. yep, lots of fireworks all around. but, that’s good….means fans care about the sport and are fired up about their respective teams 🙂
umm…yeah…I definitely realized that. I mean, surely I wasn’t so dense as to not realize the rankings were in the exact same order as last year’s NCAA finishes…that’d just be…stupid…
I’m going to go ahead and revoke my own commenting privileges for 24 hours due to sheer idiocy on my part. 🙂
Shouldn’t try to make him too versatile. His strength is sprint freestyles and fly. He already took one break, a potential cautionary sign of burnout symptoms. Let him do what he wants to do naturally.
The 4×200 I’m thinking: Wallace, D’Arrigo, Main, and Werner (can they be call All-American with 4 foreign swimmers???)
Dressel is more valuable in the sprints, where Florida is very thin. He might swim it at SECs, but for the big show the 4×200 is where he’s most replaceable.
Pawel Werner is looking very strong so far this fall, after an off season last year. They’ll need to lean on him (plus probably Main and Curby) in the sprint relays.
Florida looks a lot like Georgia, except with a lot more potential to score in the under-200 yd events.
Olympic Trials at US will be 2015 or 2016? Dressel will have to decide which one he will focus.. if it is 2016 he can focus an year at NCAA, otherwise he will have to focus all he have on trying to get a relay spot on 4×100..
Dressel will be a sophomore in 2016. In 2004, a Florida sophomore named Lochte managed to win a surprise spot on the Olympic team, while also crushing the NCAA.
Dressel doesn’t strike me as the type to arrange his whole life around the 4-year olympiad anyway. We’ll see.
Yeah, I don’t see this being a conflict. I’m not sure why it’d be impossible to work toward NCAAs in March and also swim fast in July.
How many Americans actually took Olympic redshirts in 2012? And how’d they do at Trials? I honestly don’t remember and a cursory trip to the Google doesn’t help much.
I did not know the dates, that´s why I asked.. march to july is a pretty good time to swim fast, train for LCM and taper again..
Just for curiosity, how the NCAA athletes make the transition? They have to train outside the normal enviroment (College) to find a 50m pool?
For the smaller schools, yes, that’s pretty much how it works. Bigger colleges’ teams often stick together and train over the summer – You’ll see a lot of university teams at Nationals, Sectionals, US Open, etc.
In the past three Olympiads, Florida has had Lochte, Caroline Burckle, and Beisel carry full classloads without redshirting while not only qualifying for the Olympics, but winning medals when they get there. I don’t think Dressel will redshirt next year.
If there’s anyone at Florida who should possibly consider redshirting next year to train for the Olympic Trials, it would be Natalie Hinds. She has a very long and efficient freestyle stroke that is tailor-made for long course swimming, but she hasn’t been able to put it together in the big pool yet. With a solid year of training under her belt focusing specifically on long course, I think she could be deadly at Trials, particularly in the 50 which… Read more »
This is an interesting exercise.
D’Arrigo, Wallace and Werner are obvious choices, they are clearly the best 3 at first glance.
Last year Main swim 200 free/100 back the second day of NCAAs. If that’s the case, no way does he swim the 800 relay after potentially four swims that day with plenty of 200 free depth around him.
Dressel either does 100 fly or 200 free that day, 200 medley relay too. Also four swims probably.
Alexiou does 200 free that day, fewer swims than any others in the running. Easy to forget he was a 1:34 his freshman year at Virginia. Went 1:49 at Nationals this summer too.
Just curious, why so many foreigners at UF? It’s been that way for awhile. Why don’t US kids, especially those from FL go there like they do in GA and TX and CA to some extent?
I think it’s largely a cultural thing.
In the southeast, Auburn and Florida really go after the foreigners, while Georgia and Texas stick with more Americans.
In the west, Stanford recruits mostly Americans, USC gets most of their talent from foreigners. Cal is somewhere in between, and Arizona has gone from (I’m guessing) 90% foreigners in scholarship spots to less than half since their coaching turnover.
It’s probably part the coach’s comfort level recruiting abroad, part the school administration, and part foreign swimmers sensing where they will or will not fit in with a team.
Corey Main had an excellent summer and is riding a lot of confidence right now. He dropped 2 seconds in the 200 back to go 1:57.7 at Commonwealths, and his freestyles are also really solid. Don’t forget also that they had an unheralded freshman swimmer by the name of Jack Blyzinskyj score in the 100 back last year after winning a swimoff to get into consols.
I think Pawel Werner is being undersold in this preview. The times he’s swam on relays already this season indicate he’s ahead of where he was before shoulder surgery when he went 1:33 in the 200 free. He wasn’t even on the 800 relay last year. You’re also forgetting about Nick Alexiou who is… Read more »