Dressel Nabs 200 Fly Win in Gators’ Victory Over FAU

FLORIDA VS. FLORIDA ATLANTIC

  • Results
  • Hosted by Florida
  • Saturday, January 6th
  • 25 Yards
  • Dual Meet Format

FINAL TEAM SCORES:

  • MEN: Florida 179, Florida Atlantic 103
  • WOMEN: Florida 180, Florida Atlantic 101

After beating in-state rival Florida State on Friday, the Gators took down another in-state foe as they beat Florida Atlantic on Saturday. The Gators won handily by nearly 80 points on both the men’s and women’s sides. The meet saw a lot of swimmers try out some of their off events.

World Champion sprinter Caeleb Dressel took on an event we haven’t seen him in too often. Dressel, well-known for his sprint free and 100 fly skills, took on the longer 200 fly on Saturday. Through the front half, he trailed teammate Maxime Rooney 52.31 to 53.26. He made big drops in his splits throughout the last 150 (29.18-27.52-26.85), taking over the lead down the final stretch to win in 1:47.63 to Rooney’s 1:47.84. That was Dressel’s only individual event of the day, but he also contributed a 19.06 anchor leg on the winning 200 medley relay. Rooney went on to win the 100 fly in 48.33.

Teammate Jan Switkowski had an impressive fly leg on the 200 medley relay, rolling to a 19.96. Individually, Switkowski pulled off a win in the 100 breast, just out-touching teammate Stanley Wu 55.85 to 55.91. The 200 breast went to fellow Gator All-American Mark Szaranek, the reigning NCAA 200 IM champ, with a 2:03.23. Wu followed for another 2nd place finish in 2:04.75.

On the women’s side, Kelly Fertel picked up a couple of wins for the Gators. Fertel’s first victory came in the 1000 free. She was the only swimmer to break 10:00 there, dominating in 9:54.74. She then battled with teammate Sherridon Dressel in the 100 fly, using her front half speed to edge out Dressel 55.90 to 56.06. Dressel also finished 2nd in the 200 free, finishing in 1:50.81 behind teammate Georgia Marris (1:50.52).

Also among the several event winners for the Florida women were standouts Emma Ball and Sydney Sell. In the 50 free, Ball topped the field in 23.67. Teammate Amelia Maughan was the only other swimmer to break 24 seconds in 23.92. Maughan later won the 500 free, coming from behind on the final 50 to clip teammate Hannah Burns 4:51.93 to 4:51.99. Sell, on the other hand, dominated the 100 back, winning by over 2 seconds in 56.19.

PRESS RELEASE – FLORIDA:

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams won their second meet in as many days, defeating FAU on Saturday.

The no. 6 Gator men topped the Owls 179-103 with 11 event victories, while the no. 19 women defeated FAU 180-101 with 11 victories of their own.

The men began the day winning seven events in a row to clinch the victory over the Owls. The men’s 200 medley relay of Michael TaylorStanley WuJan Switkowskiand Caeleb Dressel got the Gators off to a strong start.

Individual wins by Drew Clark (1000 free), Grady Heath (200 free), Dakota Mahaffey(100 back), Switkowski (100 Breast), Dressel (200 fly), Bayley Main (50 free) rounded out Florida’s seven straight event victories.

On the women’s side, the Gators recorded five straight wins to start the meet, with the 200 medley relay team of Sherridon DresselPaige ScherigerGeorgia Marrisand Kelsey Dambacher kicking it off.

The relay was followed by individual wins from Kelly Fertel (1000 free), Georgia Marris (200 free), Sydney Sell (200 back) and Dani Keymont (100 breast).

Heath (100 free), Ethan Beach (200 back), Mark Szaranek (200 breast) and Khader Baqlah (500 free) made up the rest of the Gator wins for the men.

The rest of the wins on the women’s side were comprised of Emma Ball (50 free), Brooke Madden (3-meter), Bella Garofalo (100 free), Savanna Faulconer (200 back), Keymont (200 breast) and Amelia Maughan (500 free).

Dalton Goss recorded the Gator men’s best finish in the 1-meter event, finishing with a mark of 287.48, while Alex Farrow notched the top score in the 3-meter, recording a 257.33.

Brooke Madden led the women once again in diving, recording a score of 277.50 in the 3-meter event and a 292.50 off the 1-meter board.

Attendance for the meet was 335.

The Gators are back in action on Saturday, Jan. 20, when they face Auburn on Senior Day at noon.

Swimming B-cuts

  • The men’s 200 medley relay team of Taylor, Wu, Switkowski and Dressel kicked off the meet with a B-cut time of 1:25.01.
  • Dressel and Maxime Rooney both notched B-cut times in the 200 fly, swimming a 1:47.63 and 1:47.84, respectively.
  • Khader Baqlah recorded a time of 4:23.11 in the 500 free, good for a B-cut qualifying time.

Straight from the Source – Head Coach Gregg Troy

  • “The team is starting to show a lot of character. We picked up today where we left off yesterday and there was no noticeable drop. The older people swam some odd events, which gave the younger people a chance to swim some of their best events. Really good racing within the team, which is always nice to see. They are not afraid to race one another and that is a great thing.”

Up Next

  • The Gators return to competition on Jan. 20 when they host Auburn at 12 p.m.
  • This meet will serve as Senior Day – 14 seniors will be honored for their commitment to the program over the course of their careers
  • The meet will be aired on the SEC Network on a tape delay and is set to be shown on Jan. 21 at 7 p.m.

PRESS RELEASE – FLORIDA ATLANTIC:

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Atlantic University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams ended the week with the first road meet of 2018 at Florida on Saturday afternoon.

The women’s team fell to the Gators, 180-101, while the men were defeated, 179-103.

HIGHLIGHTS

Women

Spence Atkins had the top time in the 200 yard butterfly (2:02.75) and finished second in the 400 IM (4:25.01). Abby Marshall had a big day with a second place finish in the 100 yard backstroke (00:58.32) and she claimed fourth in the 50 yard freestyle (0:24.24).

Men

Will Smith highlighted the day on the men’s side with a second place finish in the 1000 yard freestyle (9:37.95) and third place in the 500 yard freestyle (4:41.81).

Logan Downey took first place in the 1 meter diving event for his second first place of the week. He achieved a score of 304.05.

UP NEXT

The Owls will celebrate Senior Day on Saturday, January 13 against Fordham and Central Connecticut’s women’s team. That meet is set to begin at 11 a.m. at the FAU Aquatics Center.

For complete coverage of FAU swimming and diving, follow us on Twitter (@FAUSwimDive), Instagram (@FAUSwimDive) and Facebook (Florida Atlantic Swimming and Diving).

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Honest observer
6 years ago

Dressel’s 200 fly is, in a way, funny. To comprehend how easily he took it out, we have to keep in mind that his best 100 fly is 43.5. So he was taking it out 9.7 seconds slower than his best 100. Now, if the 200 fly is not a regular part of your repertoire, it can be an intimidating event. We’ve all seen swimmers who’ve absolutely died and have undergone the public humiliation of barely being able to get their arms out of the water for the last lap. They look as if they’ve lost control of their bodies, and none of us want to experience that. Understandable enough.

But 9.7 seconds?? That’s like Lily King taking out… Read more »

Caleb
Reply to  Honest observer
6 years ago

That’s kinda what I meant, he’s obviously not taking the event seriously at this point (in training and practice, at least) and yet he negative splits and zips by Rooney to win in a pretty solid time.

Sccoach
6 years ago

With the added mixed relays it would be a lot to add the 200 IM to his major meet lineup. It would be obviously cool to see him do it, but sooooo many events.

samuel huntington
6 years ago

wow, Switkoski going 19.9 already

Paul
Reply to  samuel huntington
6 years ago

They suited up for the 2MR, but still quite impressive even in that context

jmanswimfan
Reply to  samuel huntington
6 years ago

More impressive than Dressels 200 fly which people are going to overrate like crazy

Caleb
Reply to  jmanswimfan
6 years ago

19.9 is a great swim but of course that 200 fly is fascinating, not so much the time but he almost even split it. As a sprinter! Whether he’s just playing, or just learning how to swim the race, pretty much everything he does is electric these days. For the record, pretty sure he’d break 1:40 if he swam the 200 fly at a championship meet, but after that is anyone’s guess. I’d love to see him swim a rested 200 IM or 200 free, though.

samuel huntington
Reply to  Caleb
6 years ago

he’s a sprinter with endurance, which is what makes him special (also why going to Florida was a great choice).

jmanswimfan
Reply to  samuel huntington
6 years ago

This gave me a good laugh. Pretty much everyone who swims a 100 good these days can swim a 200

samuel huntington
Reply to  jmanswimfan
6 years ago

ok and? Can any of those people swim a back half like Dressel can? no, the endurance Dressel has is what makes him unique (see last 25 of his 100 fly SCY or the last 15 meters of his 100 free/fly LC)

Caleb
Reply to  Caleb
6 years ago

not that it bothers me, just curious, but why would anyone downvote this comment? Do people not think Dressel is an exciting swimmer or is the site overrun by bots?

Pvdh
Reply to  Caleb
6 years ago

My theory is that fans, especially those outside of the US, were just not ready for another dominant US male swimmer like this right after Phelps and Lochte. It took awhile to go from Mary Biondi to Phelps/Lochte, and many swimmers got to share the spotlight in that span. now we’re going right from Phelps to Dressel immediately.

Aquajosh
Reply to  samuel huntington
6 years ago

Switkowski is going to be NASTY this year.

Pvdh
6 years ago

He’s definitely preparing for 200im in long course

nuotofan
Reply to  Pvdh
6 years ago

Yes, and I remind a certain prediction (Lochte’s WR smashed come Panpacs..) for me unbelievable.

Pvdh
Reply to  nuotofan
6 years ago

Sort of like 49.86 being unbelievable

Hswimmer
Reply to  nuotofan
6 years ago

1:52 coming soon. I can see him jumping right over 1:53 if he’s fresh.

Dee
Reply to  Hswimmer
6 years ago

Can we just remember how utterly brilliant Phelps/Lochte were at every stroke – That 200im LC record is one of the toughest in the books for me, and it will take a huge amount of beating. 1.54 would be huge before we start talking about 1.52.

25.0 – 29.0 – 33.0 – 27.0 gets you 1.54.0, but you’d probably want to gain a little out front because coming back in 60s flat will be HARD off any pace.

Pvdh
Reply to  Dee
6 years ago

Phelps and Lochte were unbelievable but they definitely weren’t world level stalwarts at every stroke. They both were incredible at Back/Free, Phelps incredible at fly, Lochte good at it. And then Lochte was good at fly whereas Phelps was ok at it. Dressel is incredible at fly and free, and good at breast. His back is weak, but Lochte/Phelps has weaknesses too early on. Dressel will get there.

1.40.6 at an in season meet is ridiculous. Basically as fast as Lochte ever went in college.

Sir Swimsalot
Reply to  Pvdh
6 years ago

Did you really just say Lochte was great at Fly but Phelps was “okay at it.”?

Pvdh
Reply to  Sir Swimsalot
6 years ago

I meant breast there.

jmanswimfan
Reply to  Pvdh
6 years ago

Michael Phelps was really good at backstroke which is what I think you meant, Phelps time in every event is incredible 41 second freestyle, 4:10 500 free and former American record holder in the 400 free, 45.50 100 back, 1:39.72 200 back. No one will ever be as good as Michael Phelps in so many things. Think he was around a 53 low 100 breast too

Carlo
Reply to  jmanswimfan
6 years ago

And the craziest thing is phelps never took short course swimming seriously. He swam short course yards sparingly yet posted crazy good times in so many events. Imagine if he swam yards seriously in college. He was all about long course meters. I think he had a 2:11 in the 200 breast long course and that was swum just for fun with no serious training.

He never really seem short course meters.

Jay ryan
Reply to  Carlo
6 years ago

2:11.30 in 2015 LC Nats

SwimGeek
Reply to  Carlo
6 years ago

And he did that 2:11at age 30! in his comeback.

Joel Lin
Reply to  jmanswimfan
6 years ago

Phelps made the 2004 Olympic team in the 200 back & was likely going to be the silver medal favorite behind Piersol. He dropped the event to focus on the 200 free. Phelps was an incredible long course backstroker.

Lochte was a SC worlds championship finalist in the 100 breast. He was world class for sure in that event, Phelps simply didn’t swim it in taper meets. Only so much you could possibly pick on considering both guys swam so many events that they never focused on breast.

Dee
Reply to  Pvdh
6 years ago

Looking at some of the breast splits both of them threw down in 200im races over the years, I have no doubt they could have swam pretty fast in the stroke individually (both split 33.0 in record swims). Phelps was less than a tenth shy of being a WR holder in back, free & fly individually.

I don’t doubt Dressel’s huge 200im potential, but I just can’t fathom a 1.52 if Phelps & Lochte couldn’t break 1.54.

Pvdh
Reply to  Dee
6 years ago

I’m not saying anything about a 1:52, but that doesn’t mean he can’t break the WR. There’s a reason he can take a 100 free out in 22.2 and come back under 25. He has great endurance paired with great speed. He can do it across 3 strokes right now, and his backstroke isn’t exactly too far off. He was doing 55 seconds in the 100m back in season last year. With the drops we saw from him, I don’t doubt he can get under 54 on a flat start.

I think he is the next step in this event.

Carlo
Reply to  Pvdh
6 years ago

The thing we won’t know how much endurace he has until he swims the 400 free or 400 IM like michael phelps or kosuke hagino. Or if he has the recovery of phelps. That 200 IM he swam in yards was without conflicting schedules. We have to wait till pan pacs to see if he can swim multiple distances like phelps and hagino. A lot of his multiple races have been sprints no longer than 100 meters so far so we have to wait and see.

I would say right now based on ability to swim multiple distance races, personal best time in long course meters , endurace and short course meters times ( short course meters converts better than… Read more »

swammer247
Reply to  Pvdh
6 years ago

Lochte was a 51 low 100 flyer and challenged for World Teams and Olympic spots in the event even when it conflicted on the schedule with the 200 IM. I wouldn’t call him an “accomplished” flyer because he doesn’t have any international medals in the stroke but he’s absolutely got world class speed in it because he’s less than a second slower (in a textile suit) than the greatest 100 flyer of all time.

Neither threw down world class times in a breaststroke event although Phelps did that 2:11 in the 200 and both of them still managed to outsplit the field on that leg in their prime.

BKP
Reply to  swammer247
6 years ago

No international medals in fly…I recall a bronze medal in the 100scm fly at worlds in 2012 for Lochte…behind LeClos and Shields nonetheless, no “light weights” by any means.
He was also a finalist in the 100 fly at LC worlds the following year!

marklewis
Reply to  Dee
6 years ago

Totally agree with you. Phelps and Lochte did not really have a weak stroke (like Chase K’s backstroke). They also had incredible turns as well.

It will be interesting to see who swims a 1:54 next.

Tammy Touchpad Error
Reply to  Dee
6 years ago

He’s going to have to get his backstroke in better shape. His front half of his 1:40 was not impressive, but he’s going to have to be able to do that 29 low. I could see 33.0, but also a 24 low and 26 midish.

I think best case this year 1:53.9 but we’ll probably get a 1:54. 1:52 in Tokyo no problem.

marklewis
Reply to  Dee
6 years ago

For those of you who may have forgotten how dazzling Ryan Lochte was at his peak, here’s his 200 IM SCM record – 1:49.63.

Kind of thrilling to watch him swim with such mastery of the strokes and turns.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OE0LMKDivXo

jmanswimfan
Reply to  marklewis
6 years ago

Lochte is the greatest yards/SCM swimmer in history

ERVINFORTHEWIN
Reply to  jmanswimfan
6 years ago

He is …..

sven
Reply to  Pvdh
6 years ago

I don’t disagree that he’s going to experiment with the 200m IM internationally, but I think you may be reading too much into this particular event choice. Pretty much any off event could be said to contribute to the 200 IM, but I don’t think that this entry is about that. They were going against an opponent who does not threaten them in any way, and the Florida coaching staff knows that it would be overkill to put Dressel in his best events when he already has A-cuts (also likely why he only did one individual). Probably better to put him in an event where he will be challenged than to have him win the 100 fly by 3-4 seconds.

Pvdh
Reply to  sven
6 years ago

Maybe this particular race doesn’t mean much, but Troy has had him training with the IMers the entire first half of the season. His 1:40.6 is also a pretty good indicator.

About Lauren Neidigh

Lauren Neidigh

Lauren Neidigh is a former NCAA swimmer at the University of Arizona (2013-2015) and the University of Florida (2011-2013). While her college swimming career left a bit to be desired, her Snapchat chin selfies and hot takes on Twitter do not disappoint. She's also a high school graduate of The …

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