Florida swimmers without NCAA automatic qualifying times will have one final shot to improve their NCAA provisional qualifying times or achieve an NCAA ‘A’ cut at UF’s own three-day Last Chance Meet in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center Natatorium. Prelims will begin each day 10 a.m. and finals will start each evening at 5 p.m. Following the SEC Championships, the Gators have already qualified four men’s and women’s relay squads, as well as eight individual men and five individual women.
The Last Chance Meet will operate as a time trial with no team scoring and no diving. If swimmers are unable to hit the automatic qualifying times they can still advance to the NCAA meet in events that are not filled up with the automatic qualifiers.
Up next, UF’s divers will look to qualify for the NCAA meet in Athens, Ga. from Mar. 9-11 at the NCAA Zone B Diving regional meet. The women’s NCAA meet will be held from Mar. 19-21 in Greensboro, N.C. and the men’s championships will be held a week later in Iowa City, Iowa (Mar. 26-28).
“Being at home allows us an opportunity for the entire team to race. Those who are not yet qualified for the NCAA meet have a great fast facility for their best opportunity. Those who raced last week can use this week to address changes and technical improvements from last week in a race environment on last time before the NCAA Championships.”
— Head Coach Gregg Troy
Looking Back
Last week, Florida’s men won the program’s third-straight and 36th overall Southeastern Conference Championship. On the women’s side, the Gators ended their conference championship in third place behind Georgia (1,450) and Texas A&M (1,166) for the second year in a row.
— Head Coach Gregg Troy
Overall, the Gators won seven SEC championships, broke three school records and registered 25 NCAA automatic qualifying marks. UF’s 36 SEC team championships ranks second amongst all sports in the history of the SEC (Kentucky Men’s Basketball, 45).
For a complete recap of the meet, click here.
Follow Live
This weekend’s Last Chance Meet will be available on Meet Mobile. In addition, follow @GatorZoneSwimDv for any NCAA marks that the Gators post.
Check GatorZone.com for the complete results following each day of competition.
We’re on TV
There will be a men’s SEC Championships 90-minute highlight show that will air on March 2 at 4 p.m., followed by a women’s recap at 5:30 p.m. Each will be broadcast on ESPNU.
College Swimming News is courtesy of the University of Florida.
Just Gators or are there other teams attending?
Meet Mobile shows Florida, FSU, Auburn, Vanderbilt, and a few swimmers from Texas A&M, FGCU, and Miami.