FLORIDA vs NOVA SOUTHEASTERN vs INDIAN RIVER (MEN ONLY)
- Friday, September 27th
- Fort Lauderdale, FL
- Short Course Yards
- Results
TEAM SCORES
- Florida – 209, Nova Southeastern – 53
- Florida – 219, Indian River – 43
- Nova Southeastern – 179, Indian River – 83
The University of Florida men opened up their season with a double dual meet against Nova Southeastern and Indian River State College, in Fort Lauderdale yesterday. The Gators won both meets, also sweeping all 16 events. Sophomore Kieran Smith helped lead Florida to its decisive victories.
Smith was rock solid on the Florida relays yesterday, splitting 21.39 on the fly leg of the 200 medley, and anchoring the 400 free in 44.37. Smith also won the individual 100 free in 44.82. The time came in well under the 45.35 Smith posted in his first 100 free last season, which he also didn’t swim until November 2nd.
Fellow sophomore Will Davis posted a trio a quick sprint free times. Davis first anchored the A 200 medley relay to victory in a field-leading 19.84. He also won the individual 50 free in 20.78, which was slightly faster than the 20.82 he put up in his season opener last year. Davis also led off the B 400 free relay in 45.64, which was just off the 45.42 he posted in September of last season.
Gator freshman Kevin Vargas swam victory in his career-first college swim, clocking a 9:13.41 in the 100 to win by 8 seconds. Vargas’ swim was not far off his personal best 1000 of 9:10.32, which he swam in November of 2018. He also went on to win the 200 breast, where he clocked a 2:04.28. Trey Freeman, another sophomore Gator, took the 500 free in 4:28.52, which came in just under the 4:28.77 he opened with last season.
Marco Guarente claimed victory in the men’s 100 breast with a 55.16. Guarente posted a 55.27 in his first 100 breast of last season, but he also didn’t swim the event until October 12th. Clark Beach won a pair of individual events, the 200 free and 200 IM. Beach was 1:38.98 in the 200 free and 1:50.26 in the IM. Last season, Beach swam his first 200 free in late October (1:38.78), and he didn’t compete in the 200 IM.
PRESS RELEASE – FLORIDA:
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.— Fast swimming from start to finish allowed for the Gators men’s swimming and diving team to take two demanding victories to begin the new season.
Florida outscored the host Nova Southeastern by a final score of 209-53 and Indian River by a tally of 219-43. This is the first-time in program history that Florida has opened with a tri-meet.
The Gators’ returning All-Americans from last season showed out, combining for six victories.
Clark Beach led the way with wins in the 200 free and 200 IM, while Will Davis (50 free), Marco Guarente (100 breast), Khader Baqlah (200 fly) and Trey Freeman (500 free) all picked up an individual event win.
C. Beach, Guarente, Baqlah and Freeman all posted B-cuts in their event wins.
Tyler Silver and Ethan Beach each posted event wins to start off their season. Silver walked away in the top spot with a time of 49.87 and Beach won the 200 back by almost three seconds, finishing in 1:47.97 and securing a B-cut.
In his collegiate debut, Kevin Vargas posted the fastest times in the 1,000 free and 200 breast. Fellow freshman Eric Friese also picked up a victory, posting a B-cut of 48.59 in the 100 fly. Brennan Gravley swam in the 1,000 free with Vargas, earning a B-cut with his swim of 9:21.63.
The Gators posted the top-three times in both relays. C. Beach, Guarente, Smith and W. Davis won the opening event in a combined swim of 1:29.86 with Dakota Mahaffey, Chandler Bray, Isaac Davis and Jack Szaranek right behind them with a combined effort of 1:30.46.
Later in the last relay, Gerry Quinn, Baqlah, Depassier and Smith beat out the Gator group of W. Davis, Freeman, Dillon Hillis and Szaranek by less than two seconds to take home the 400 free relay victory.
Nick Lydon led the Gator’s divers on the 1-meter, posting a score of 320.32. Alex Farrow (312.90) and Nick Carlin (309.52) finished in second and third.
In the 3-meter, Carlin took home the first-place nod, generating a score of 307.5 with Farrow right behind in second with a final tally of 290.4.
Gator Wins:
200 Medley Relay- Beach, Guarente, Smith, Davis
1,000 Free- Vargas
200 Free- Beach
100 Back- Silver
100 Breast- Guarente
200 Fly- Baqlah
50 Free- W. Davis
1-Meter- Lydon
100 Free- Smith
200 Back- E. Beach
200 Breast- Vargas
500 Free- Freeman
100 Fly- Friese
3-Meter- Carlin
200 IM- C. Beach
200 Free Relay- Quinn, Baqlah, Depassier and Smith
Personal Records:
Depassier: 50 Free (45.93)
Quotables:
Head coach Anthony Nesty– “It felt great for our guys to get back in the pool and pick up two victories to start off our season. Our numbers seemed to be at a good spot for this point in the season. We had contributions from returners and also from newcomers, which was nice to see. I’m excited to go up against FAU tomorrow and finish off this opening weekend of the season before getting almost two weeks to gear up for the next part of our schedule.”
Up Next:
The Gators will wrap-up their opening weekend in South Florida against FAU at 10:00 a.m. at the FAU Aquatic Center.
PRESS RELEASE – NOVA SOUTHEASTERN:
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – On a sunny day in South Florida, the Nova Southeastern men and women’s swim teams kicked off their 2019-20 season. The men hosted the Florida Gators and Indian River State College in a tri-meet while the women’s side hosted the River in a dual meet. Both teams topped IRSC, while the men fell to the Gators in their part of the tri-meet.
INSIDE THE MEET:
FINAL WOMEN’S SCORES: Nova Southeastern Sharks (191), Indian River State College River (71)
FINAL MEN’S SCORES: Nova Southeastern Sharks (179), Indian River State College River (83) / University of Florida (209), Nova Southeastern Sharks (53) / University of Florida (219), Indian River State College River (43)
LOCATION: NSU Aquatic Center | Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
FOLLOW US: @NSUSHARKS on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The Sharks kicked off the meet on a high note, as the women’s 200 medley team made up of Cassandra Wright, Caily Friel, Sasha Maslova and Jenna Johns grabbed first place with an NCAA B-cut time of 1:44.88.
- In the 400 freestyle relay, Solana Capalbo, Wright, Laurel Fink and Johns closed out the meet for the women with a win in 3:34.44.
TOP INDIVIDUAL PERFORMERS:
- In the 1000 freestyle, Emma Sundstedt claimed the second first-place finish of the day and first individual for the Sharks, posting a time of 10:25.57, just one second from a B-cut time. She also won the 500 freestyle in 5:09.50.
- Wright topped the competition in the 100 backstroke, notching a 57.01 in the event.
- In the 100 breaststroke, Friel finished in first with her time of 1:06.57 and on the men’s side Alessandro Xella finished in third with a time of 58.32. Friel also went on to earn the win in the 200 breaststroke in 2:25.24.
- In the women’s 200 butterfly, Maslova was the winner with a time of 2:05.63. Behind three UF male swimmers, Matteo Masiero claimed fourth place with a time of 1:53.76. Maslova also finished first in the 100 butterfly in 57.14 and in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:07.98.
- Johns claimed her first win in the 50 free with an NCAA B-cut time of 23.93 before winning the 100 free in 52.53, as well.
- In the men’s 50 freestyle, Jonathan Yanello finished in second place with a time of 21.19, while Magnus Poulsen grabbed third in 21.44.
- On the men’s side of the 100 freestyle, Alec Dawson finished in fourth in 47.55.
- Samuel Brettmann posted a time of 2:06.51 in the men’s 200 breaststroke, good enough for third place.
- In the men’s 100 butterfly, Masiero claimed second place in 49.69, while Poulsen posted a 49.73 to finish in third.
UP NEXT
The Sharks will host their 10th-Annual Shark Invitational on Oct. 11-12 at the NSU Aquatic Center. The Sharks will welcome SCAD, Florida Southern, Lynn, Florida Tech and Keiser to the two-day event.
SHARKS ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
Follow along with live updates on Twitter by following @NSU_Swim.
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