Florida Gators Def. Auburn Tigers
- Auburn at Florida
- January 22, 2022
- Stephen C. O’Connell Center, Gainesville, FL
- Meet Mobile: “UF vs. Auburn 012222”
- Results PDF
- Men: UF 201 Auburn 99, Women UF 184 Auburn 116
Florida hosted Auburn Saturday, January 22nd for a dual meet. The Gator men swam to a victory with a score of 201-99. The Gator women also swam to victory winning in a score of 184-116. This was Florida’s first meet of 2022 and their first meet since midseason as their meet against Texas A&M was canceled due to COVID-19 protocols. Auburn is coming off a win on the men’s side over Alabama. The Auburn women are coming off of a loss to Alabama.
The Florida men have been dominant within the conference as they are chasing their 10th-straight title. The Florida women have been dealing with a lot of swimmers who seem to have left the team. Auburn is rebuilding under first year head coach Ryan Wochomurka.
The meet also featured members of the post graduate groups training at each university, but official times and results were not published.
Men’s Recap
Senior Kieran Smith led the way for the Gator men. He earned individual victories in the 200 (1:32.96) and 500 (4:18.16) freestyles. His 200 freestyle time was not far off of his season best of 1:32.66 which he swam leading off the 800 freestyle relay at midseason. That leadoff split places him fourth in the event in the NCAA this season. Smith also holds the #3 time in the NCAA this season in the 500 freestyle.
Senior Bobby Finke also picked up big points for Florida. Finke won the 200 backstroke in a season best time of 1:46.25. He also finished second in the 1000 freestyle swimming a time of 8:56.58. This was his first time swimming the 1000 freestyle in a dual meet this season. His teammate, junior Trey Freeman won the event in a personal best time of 8:55.93. Finke holds the top time in the NCAA this season in the event with a time of 8:44.44 which he swam going out in his 1650 freestyle at midseason.
Freshman Macguire McDuff swam to a first place finish in the 50 freestyle (20.01) and a second place finish in the 100 freestyle (44.51). He was not far off of his personal bests which he swam at midseason of 19.80 in the 50 and 43.49 in the 100.
The Auburn men were led by sophomore Reid Mikuta who won the 100 breaststroke (53.39), 200 breaststroke (1:58.79), and finished third in the 200 IM (1:50.45). Mikuta holds the #5 time in the NCAA this season in the 100 breaststroke (51.33) as well as the #14 time in the 200 breaststroke (1:53.69). Mikuta’s best time prior to arriving at Auburn was a 53.26 in the 100 and a 1:56.34 in the 200 breaststrokes.
Junior Aidan Stoffle also got an individual victory for the Tigers winning the 100 backstroke in a time of 48.15. His best time this season is a 46.80 which he swam at midseason leading off the 400 medley relay.
Other first-place finishes:
- 200 medley relay: Florida (1:27.50)
- 200 butterfly: Mason Laur, Florida (1:46.68)
- 100 freestyle: Alberto Mestre, Florida (44.38)
- 100 butterfly: Eric Friese, Florida (47.56)
- 200 IM: Julian Smith, Florida (1:48.81)
- 400 freestyle relay: Florida (2:57.07)
Women’s Recap:
The Gator women were led by junior Talia Bates who won both the 100 freestyle (48.60) and 100 backstroke (53.74). Her 100 freestyle time matched what she went at midseason. At the 2021 NCAA Championships, Bates earned a best time in the 100 freestyle swimming a time of 48.09 as she finished 10th.
Ekaterina Nikonova made her Florida debut. She swam to victories in the 50 (22.68) and 200 (1:46.61) freestyles. Her best times converted are a 21.98 in the 50 and a 47.63 in the 100 freestyles.
Freshman Olivia Peoples also made a big impact for the Gators as she won the 100 butterfly in a time of 54.26. She also finished second in both the 100 (1:02.52) and 200 (2:15.62) breaststrokes. Her 200 breaststroke time was a season best.
Auburn was led by freshman Anastasia Makarova who swept both breaststroke events. She won the 100 breaststroke in a personal best time of 1:00.41. That time places her tied for 36th in the NCAA this season. She won the 200 breaststroke in a time of 2:14.20.
Sophomore Meghan Lee also picked up a win for the Tigers. Lee won the 200 backstroke in a time of 1:56.48. Lee holds the #37 time in the NCAA this season in the event as she went a 1:54.99 at midseason. Lee also swam to third place finishes in the 100 backstroke (54.20) and 200 IM (2:02.76).
Other first place finishes:
- 200 medley relay: Auburn (1:40.25)
- 1000 freestyle: Elise Bauer, Florida (9:49.61)
- 200 butterfly: Amanda Ray, Florida (1:58.42)
- 500 freestyle: Tylor Mathieu, Florida (4:46.61)
- 200 IM: Kathleen Golding, Florida (2:00.28)
- 400 freestyle relay: Auburn (3:23.20)
Post-Graduate Races
Although no official results and times can be found, MeetMobile displays Caeleb Dressel, Natalie Hinds, and Katie Ledecky as name entries into the meet. Auburn volunteer coach and distance freestyler, Zane Grothe tweeted today saying “Raced Katie Ledecky in a 500 today. Had the audacity to tell her good luck beforehand. I lost”
Raced Katie Ledecky in a 500 today. Had the audacity to tell her good luck beforehand. I lost
— Zane Grothe (@zane_growth_ee) January 22, 2022
Post the times Nesty you coward
Man has one of the best pro groups in the entire country maybe he wants to make the most of it.
Katie was 4:30 Grothe was like 4:33 or smth
Where are you getting this from
I was there watching
Wow, Katie was always in the 4:35 range during her dual meets at Stanford and she’s already dropped two 4:30s unsuited at UF within the span of like three months
I guess it’s because she was always so far ahead of everyone else at Stanford while both of her 4:30s at UF were against guys so I guess closer races = more motivation for her to go faster?
Yeah she was raving 5 guys and was behind most of the time. She barely ran the best guy in the field and out touched him so that was def part of it
The best guy being Zane Grothe? Or someone else?
Hm I wouldn’t consider 3 seconds “barely” though
Someone else, Grothe was like 4th lol
Working on closing speed perhaps? You never know with KL. She is a sports historians dream subject. Would love to write her bio.
I think she just was splitting it well, everyone she was racing wasn’t exactly a 500 swimmer I don’t think. The guy she was racing was Tyler Watson who’s an imer
Tyler Watson is a 4:15 500 freestyler.
Tyler Watson can swim a 4:15 500 which is still pretty decent though
Zane grothe is a major 500 guy, a 4:33 is slow for someone who can go 4:07 but then at duals he was always in the 4:30 range so I’m not suprised
It doesn’t matter that much for the guys at least, it’s just an exhibition race but it’s still fun to speculate about Ledecky’s training
She’s so unpredictable and it’s really fun to infer
I agree with you on the closing speed, because based on the way titmus splits her races Katie isn’t gonna win anything mid distance unless she closes in a 28 and I think she knows that herself as well
FYI The exhibition 200 is on YouTube, not a great video, Katie nd Lia Neal and the guys led by Dressel
I think you mean Natalie Hinds.
Oops sorry!
Mestre’s 42.10 on the 4 x 100 B relay jumped out to me
Probably incorrect.
Davis likely did not close in 25.0 and Mestre likely did not flip in 18.9.
This was our assumption too.
Is anyone training with Gregg Troy anymore or has Nesty basically absorbed that whole group?
If I can recall correctly Troy has retired and so Nesty has absorbed that whole group incl. Dressel
He moved to a Texas club team
He’s on deck with Eddie in an emeritus role
Where has the article on this gone?
Dressels Tokyo Olympics was Troy’s crowning achievement. Deserves to rest easy now. Im sure he’s still got some input or advice here and there for Dressel should he need or want it.
Good. Should have done that years ago.
He’s waiting for the world-class aquatics center to open in Ocala so he won’t be fighting for pool time.
from what I remember, he wanted to retire even earlier but Dressel asked him to stay until the Olympics
Damn I really wanna know the results
The truth is out there.
Nesty you can run but you can’t hide
4:28 confirmed
It was a 4:30.06
I’m guessing Katie went sub 4:30 then
Sort of adding insult to injury to misspell Grothe’s name.