SEC Male Swimmer of the Week: Marco Loughran, Florida
SEC Female Swimmer of the Week: Melanie Margalis, Georgia
Georgia Women Expose Florida’s Depth Issue, Florida Men Impressive in Win
Florida Women 120, Georgia Women 180; Florida Men 170, Georgia Men 130
When looking at the scores from the Florida-Georgia dual meets this weekend, the initial reaction might be that the meets were blowouts that were more notable for the way that the Georgia women and Florida men dominated their opponents than for the excitement of the races.
Quite the contrary is true, however, as this meet was loaded with tight races.
On the women’s side, Georgia exposed a few big weakness in Florida’s lineup. The Gators, who were swimming without team leader Teresa Crippen, swam very well in some events, but in others got hammered.
Some of these races were predictable. Georgia went 1-2-3 in both the 500 and 1000 yard freestyles. In the 500, Georgia’s fearsome trio of Wendy Trott, Chelsea Nauta, and Allison Schmitt all went 4:48’s, with Nauta going a season best time of 4:48.25.
Florida was also hurt big time in the breaststroke events, where we already knew they were weak. Georgia placed 1-4 in the 100, led by a 1:01.7 from Melanie Margalis, and 1-3 in the 200, which was another NCAA B-cut in 2:14.32.
Florida did get some great swims, however, and there were some very exciting races. Shara Stafford went a 54.58, her best time this nation (and 7th in the nation). In a great swim, Stafford proved that more often than not, the swimmer with the best second half split wins the race, as she made up a two-tenths deficit to Geogia’s Kelsey Gaid to snag a victory. But even in races like these, Florida was hurt by a lack of depth. In the 100 back, despite Stafford’s win, Florida wasn’t able to make up much ground as Georgia finished second through fifth (with four B-times).
In Crippen’s absence, Florida super freshman showed how valuable she is to this team’s strategies by winning two middle-distance races, and finishing second in another. She took the 200 back, was second in the 200 IM, and won her first collegiate 200 fly with a time of 1:58.29 that is fifth best in the country.
Speaking of the 200 IM, Georgia’s Melanie Margalis looked very impressive there in a 1:57.62. This puts her nearly two seconds ahead of Beisel and teammate Jana Mangimelli (third) for the best time in the nation.
Florida’s Sarah Bateman was another bright spot of the meet. She had great relay legs, splitting a 21.95 to anchor the 200 medley and a 49.3 in the 400 medley. She also won the individual versions of both of those races.
For those of you counting, Georgia’s early test against the defending champs extends their home-pool winning streak to 72-straight duals.
On the men’s side, Florida was finally back to full strength after returning three swimmers from Commonwealth Games competition.
The 200 free was a great battle, as expected, between top-5 swimmers Conor Dwyer and Jameson Hill. Dwyer was able to hold off a hard charging Hill, just a freshman, to take the win in 1:37.77. Hill swam a season best time of 1:38.15. Everyone knew Hill would be a good collegian, but I didn’t expect him to be this good this early into his college career. This is the second great 200 swim he’s had in as many meets this season.
Besides Dwyer, Marco Loughran was big for the Gators in sweeping the backstroke events. His times of 48.36/1:47.05 rank him first and third in the country this season. Loughran’s speedy early season times were likely a carryover from his Commonwealth Games taper.
The race of the night on the men’s side was easily the 400 free relay, where the two teams became the first in the country this season to go under 3:00. The two teams had identical splits at the halfway mark, and were nearly identical headed into the last leg, until Florida’s Brett Fraser hit the water. Fraser, another of the Gators recently off of a taper, was able to pull away from Georgia’s Michael Arnold thanks to a 43.61 split.
The 400 free relay is going to without a doubt be the race to watch at the SEC Championships this season. Though it’s early, the conference currently holds 4 out of the country’s 6 best times in that event—Florida, Georgia, and the surprising Alabama and Tennessee squads. This list doesn’t even include Auburn, who hasn’t swum the race yet this season but currently holds the country’s top time in the 200 free relay.
Full Results available through the Georgia website.
South Carolina Stays Undefeated After Sweep of Clemson
The South Carolina Gamecocks swept the Clemson Tigers on Saturday to stay undefeated, with the women winning 167-133, and the men taking the meet 169.5-125.5 (after exhibitioning the last two events).
The race of the meet on the women’s side was the 200 medley, which Clemson won 1:45.56-1:45.59. They were able to pull away thanks to a 25.53 split from butterflier Kelsey Krauss.
South Carolina’s young freshman Rachael Schaffer won the 200 fly in a time of 2:02.65, which places her 11th in the SEC this season.
On the men’s side, South Carolina’s Bobby Cave put up more great times in sweeping the breaststrokes. His time of 2:02.81 places him third in the conference, and ninth in the nation, this season.
A bright spot for Clemson was Chris Dart, who won the 200 IM and 100 back. His time of 49.66 in the 100 back is third-best in the ACC this year, and he’s a potential underdog NCAA finalist in that race.
Full Results available through the Clemson website.
Tennessee Topples Kentucky
Women: Tennessee 177.5, Kentucky 122.5 Men: Tennessee 203, Kentucky 96
The Tennessee Men (3-0) and women (3-0) knocked off the Kentucky Wildcats (2-2 Women, 0-4 Men) in lopsided victories on Saturday.
Tennessee’s Olympian Norbert Kovacs went two season-best times in winning his only two events of the meet, the 100 fly and 200 free in times of 50.02 and 1:41.95.
For Kentucky, the swimmer of the meet was Kayla Sergesketter. In the 100 free, she knocked off Tennessee All-American Jennifer Connolly to win in a time of 50.58. Connolly was able to win another great battle between the two in the 50 freestyle, with a final mark of 23.31 to Sergesketter’s 23.36.
Full Results available from the Kentucky website.
Other Notes and Results
The Georgia women’s program was mourning their own loss as diver Hannah Moore lost her father to a heart attack last weekend…The LSU women defeated Tulane 194-98 on Friday before welcoming in and defeating Florida State (4-1) 176-124 on Saturday…Robert Holderness keeps getting better for the FSU men. Despite his team falling to LSU 155-145 on Saturday, he put up nationally-ranked and season best times in the 100 breaststroke (55.78) and 200 breaststroke (2:02.90)…
Sorry, I have to give SEC male swimmer to Dwyer.. !000@9:00,[email protected], 200 then a 44.9 relay split. That is amazing..Dont know who else could do that. He is first in the country in the 1000 , first in the 500 and 2nd in the 200. He and Virginia’s Mclean flip flopped spots in the 200 and 500 free.
Hands down, that is a tough meet to pull off and to do it with those times is pretty amazing