Florida Men, Georgia Women Win Rivalry Match Up in Gainesville

FLORIDA VS. GEORGIA

• Results
• Hosted by Florida
• Thursday, October 26th-Friday, October 27th
• 25 Yards
• Dual Meet Format

FINAL TEAM SCORES:

College football fans in the SEC are looking forward to the big Florida vs. Georgia game this weekend, but the rivalry kicked off today with dual meet action in the pool. The Bulldogs traveled to Florida for an SEC meet. They ended in a split, with the Florida men and Georgia women getting the job done.

• MEN: Florida 179, Georgia 121
• WOMEN: Georgia 182, Florida 118

Florida’s Jan Switkowski was instrumental to the win, finishing 1st in all 3 of his individual races. He was evenly matched with teammate Maxime Rooney at the halfway point of the 200 fly, but pulled away on the back half to win in 1:44.35 to Rooney’s 1:46.28. Switkowski completed the fly sweep with a 47.02 in the 100 fly and dominated the 200 IM in 1:44.99. His time in the 200 fly is 3rd in the NCAA this year and the fastest swim outside of the USA vs. College Challenge.

Sprint star Caeleb Dressel picked up a sweep of the sprint free races. He was over half a second ahead of the field in the 50 free, finishing in 19.93. Dressel darted out to the lead with a 21.01 split at the halfway mark of the 100 free, finishing off the sweep in 44.00.

SEC medalist Khader Baqlah picked up a pair of freestyle wins as well. In the 200 free, he trailed Georgia Olympian Jay Litherland (1:36.68) by almost half a second at the 150-mark, but hammered home with a 23.52 to win in 1:36.34. Baqlah then went on to win the 500 free, coming from behind to win it in 4:24.07 as he outpaced Georgia’s Kevin Litherland (4:24.55) in the final 200 yards.

The Georgia men also had a few multiple event winners. Sophomore standout Javier Acevedo got the ball rolling in the 100 back, coming from behind to swim past Florida freshman Michael Taylor (48.46) and win it in 47.33. Acevedo even split the race, going out in 23.66 and coming home in 23.67. He once again used a back-half surge to win the 200 back, moving ahead of Florida All-American Rooney (1:45.21) with a 25.44 final split en route to his 1:44.17.

Teammate James Guest swept the breaststrokes for the Bulldogs, turning in a 54.86 in the 100 breast and a 1:59.51 in the 200 breast.

On the women’s side, Georgia’s Courtney Harnish continues to impress in her first NCAA season. Today, she touched 1st in the 200 free (1:46.76) and 500 free (4:46.43) against the Gators. Teammate Veronica Burchill also added a pair of freestyle wins. In the 50 free, she out-touched Florida’s Sherridon Dressel for the win, 23.19 to 23.31. They went head-to-head again in the 100 free, with Burchill touching in 49.99 ahead of Dressel’s 50.67.

Megan Kingsley was another Bulldog to pick up a sweep after a pair of butterfly battles with All-American teammate Chelsea Britt (54.10/1:58.43). Kingsley won the 200 fly in 1:57.85, and used her back-half speed to get her hands to the wall ahead of Britt in the 100 fly with a 54.00. Meaghan Raab joined the ranks of multiple event winners, touching in 2:15.44 to win the 200 breast and 2:00.69 to win the 200 IM.

Florida’s Emma Ball had an impressive swim in the 100 back. She went up against Georgia backstroker Kylie Stewart, an NCAA scorer, taking the early lead as she flipped in 25.58. Stewart wasn’t able to close the gap, with Ball posting a 52.73 to win it and become the 10th fastest swimmer in the nation this year. Stewart followed in 53.31.

PRESS RELEASE – FLORIDA:

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida’s swimming & diving program ended its long stretch of meets on Friday, splitting with Georgia.

The No. 3 Gator men defeated the No. 12 Bulldogs, 179-121, while the sixth-ranked Georgia women topped No. 20 Florida. The UF men claimed the first victory over the Bulldogs since the 2013-14 season.

Both Florida squads started the meet out on a high note, winning the 200 medley relay. The women’s relay of Emma Ball, Paige Scheriger, Sherridon Dressel and Amelia Maughan posted a time of 1:41.15 to earn the victory.

The men’s relay of Michael Taylor, Chandler Bray, Jan Switkowski and Caeleb Dresselfollowed up with a win of their own, posting a swim of 1:26.73. Florida’s 400 freestyle relay of Khader Baqlah, Maxime Rooney, Mark Szaranek and Dressel closed the meet out on a high point, winning with a time of 2:58.43.

The men totaled seven individual wins to go along with their two relay wins. Jan Switkowski earned victories in the 100 fly and 200 fly, posting B-cut times of 47.02 and 1:44.35, respectively. He also won the 200 IM with a season-best time of 1:44.99. Classmate Caeleb Dressel also notched two wins in the 50 free and 100 free with B-cut times of 19.93 and 44.00.

Ben Lawless added another win this week, swimming a 9:05.41 in the 1,000 free to earn the victory, while Khader Baqlah posted a B-cut time of 4:24.07 in the 500 free to finish first.

The women recorded three individual victories to add onto their relay, beginning with Emma Ball‘s 57.73 in the 100 back. The other two wins came on the boards, with Brooke Madden winning the 1-meter (316.58) and Teya Syskakis winning the 3-meter (315.53).

Florida’s men notched 15 B-cut times, with Switkowski leading the way with three. Baqlah, Dressel, Rooney and Taylor each recorded two as well. Clark Beach, Chandler Bray, Grant Sanders and Mark Szaranek rounded out the men recording NCAA qualifying times.

Hannah Burns led the women with two B-cuts of her own, while Kelsey Dambacher, Sydney Sell and Emma Ball pitched in one apiece.

The Gators are back in action on Nov. 4 when the women compete against Florida Gulf Coast University at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center Natatorium.

How it Happened – Swimming:

• The men recorded seven individual wins to go along with their two relay victories, led by Switkowski’s three individual first-place finishes.
• Ball was the lone woman swimmer to earn first, winning the 100 back.
• Florida’s men produced 15 NCAA B-cut times and the women recorded of their own against the Bulldogs.
• Florida dominated in the top-3, with the men recording 30 top-three finishes and the women registering 18 on the day.

How It Happened – Diving:

• Madden recorded a season-best score of 316.58 in the 1-meter on Thursday night. Teya Syskakis (269.03) and Emma Whitner (255.30) finished fourth and fifth on the 1-meter board.
  • Both Madden’s and Syskakis’ scores were Zone-qualifying.
• Goss and Farrow third and fourth against the Bulldogs in the 1-meter event. Goss posted a score of 290.85 and Farrow followed with a 281.03.
• Syskakis won the 3-meter on Friday, posting a score of 315.53, while Madden finished third with a score of 309.68.
• Goss (324.00) finished the 3-meter board in third place and Farrow (309.00) placed fifth.

Straight from the Source – Head Coach Gregg Troy:

• “We competed well today, especially after the long 10 days of meets against top-tier teams. On the men’s side, our middle-distance and distance guys have been strong for us. For the women, they put up a great fight against a good Georgia team.”
• “Competition like this is only going to help us improve come March and we are looking forward to the training time with a bit of time off.”

Straight from the Source – Diving Coach Bryan Gillooly:

• “It was a long week of meets, but our divers showed up and performed at a high level today. The Georgia divers are very good and made us compete at a high level. We really stepped up to that challenge and it is only going to help us later in the year.

Meet Attendance:

• 494 fans attended Friday’s meet.

Up Next:

• The Gators return to action next Saturday as the women face Florida Gulf Coast University and the men compete in the Orange/Blue meet.
• The meet is slated to start at 10 a.m. and doors will open at 9 a.m.

PRESS RELEASE – GEORGIA:

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The No. 6-ranked Georgia women’s swimming and diving team remained undefeated on the season with a 182-119 victory over No. 20 Florida on Friday at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center Natatorium.

In the men’s meet, No. 3 Florida posted a 179-121 decision over the 12th-ranked Bulldogs.

The Lady Bulldogs improved to 5-0 overall and 1-0 in the SEC. Georgia’s women are undefeated in their last 22 conference meets with a 21-0-1 mark dating back to 2013. The Bulldogs slipped to 4-1 and 0-1.

Megan Kingsley, Meaghan Raab, Veronica Burchill and Courtney Harnish each won twice for the Lady Bulldogs. Kingsley swept the butterfly races, winning the 100 in 54.00 and the 200 in 1:57.85. Raab took the 200 breaststroke in 2:15.44 and the 200 individual medley in 2:00.51. Burchill went 23.19 to win the 50 freestyle and 48.99 to win the 100 freestyle. Harnish claimed the 200 freestyle in 1:46.76 and the 500 freestyle in 4:46.43.

Stephanie Peters won the 1,000 freestyle with a time of 9:49.76, Caitlin Casazza touched in 1:03.34 to claim the 100 breaststroke and Kylie Stewart finished first in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:56.28.

The 400 freestyle relay of Burchill, Stewart, Maddie Wallis and Raab took top honors in 3:21.87.

Charlie Clifton, James Guest and Javier Acevedo were double winners for the Bulldogs. Clifton swept the springboards, winning the 1-meter with 352.58 points and the 3-meter with 335.03 points. Guest claimed each breaststroke race, taking the 100 in 54.86 and the 200 in 1:59.51. Acevedo reached the wall in 47.33 to win the 100 backstroke and won the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:44.17.

“Florida’s women kept it close at the start, and our women got together and reorganized and were able to win everything down the stretch,” said Harvey Humphries, Georgia’s Senior Associate Head Coach. “It was good to see how they reacted positively to a little adversity at the beginning of the meet. Our men raced Florida pretty closely. It was a well-contested meet. No one likes to lose, but we were proud of our guys for racing and showing up against one of the best teams in the country. No one backed down and they raced hard all the way through the meet. All in all, it was a pretty good day for Georgia.”

Georgia will return to action on Wednesday, Nov. 8, at 4 p.m. against Georgia Tech at Gabrielsen Natatorium.