Two University of Florida women won’t be competing in the coming NCAA season: Mabel Zavaros will be taking an Olympic redshirt and Layla Black has returned to Great Britain.
Both were SEC scorers last season. Zavaros earned an individual NCAA invite, but did not score.
Zavaros is Canadian, and will take the year to focus on Canada’s Olympic Trials. They come very quickly after NCAAs, causing many of Canada’s top talents to withdraw from the NCAA this season. Zavaros was an SEC B finalist in the 200 fly last season (14th and 1:56.6 in prelims) and also scored in the 200 back (20th in 1:55.5). The freshman swam those two races and the 500 free at NCAAs, placing 45th, 45th and 37th, respectively.
Zavaros was not in line to score any NCAA points this season even with seniors factored out, but some of that was based on a lackluster NCAA performance in a tough 200 fly/200 back double. Her season-bests in both of those events would have been on the cusp of scoring.
Zavaros’ Top Times in SCY (LCM in parenthses)
- 200 back: 1:53.10 (2:11.30)
- 200 fly: 1:56.68 (2:08.71)
- 100 fly: 53.60 (58.62)
- 200 free: 1:47.16 (2:01.16)
- 500 free: 4:44.20 (400 free: 4:17.71)
- 200 IM: 2:01.14 (2:16.67)
- 400 IM: 4:10.12 (4:45.87)
Zavaros qualified for Canada’s Pan Pacs roster in 2018, but didn’t make any major travel rosters last summer. Zavaros swam the 200 fly, 100 fly and 200 back at Pan Pacs in 2018. Her twin sister Rosie remains on the Gator roster for this coming season. Florida says Mabel Zavaros will return to the roster in the fall of 2020.
Black’s Top Times in SCY (LCM in parenthses)
- 100 breast: 1:01.75 (1:09.26)
- 200 breast: 2:11.47 (2:26.60)
Black, meanwhile, has dropped off the roster and returned to Great Britain, Florida confirmed. She was also a freshman last year, and also scored at SECs. Black made the C finals of both breaststrokes, but didn’t earn an NCAA invite.
She’s a former junior standout for Great Britain, winning gold at 2017 European Juniors and 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games. The school says she’s returned to Great Britain, suggesting she won’t be returning to the Florida roster, even after the Olympic year.
Zavaros joins a growing list of redshirts, gap years and deferrals to come out in the past few months:
- Taylor Ruck, Stanford (Canada)
- Olivia Carter, Georgia (USA)
- Ida Hulkko, Florida State (Finland)
- Faith Knelson, Arizona (Canada)
- Mackenzie Padington, Minnesota (Canada)
- Sarah Bacon, Minnesota (USA)
- Kristen Hayden, Minnesota (USA)
- Dean Farris, Harvard (USA)
- Javier Acevedo, Georgia (Canada)
- Giovanni Izzo, NC State (Italy)
- Jarod Arroyo, Arizona State (Puerto Rico)
- Ruslan Gaziev, Ohio State (Canada)
- Mario Koenigsperger, USC (New Zealand)
- Grant House, Arizona State (USA)
- Michael Brinegar, Indiana (USA)
- Andrew Capobianco, Indiana (USA)
- Brandon Loschiavo, Purdue (USA)
- Mabel Zavaros, Florida (Canada)
Abi Knapton, Nebraska (USA)