FLORIDA V. FGCU
- Saturday, September 29th
- Fort Myers, FL (FGCU)
- SCY
- Results
- SCORES: UF 219 – FGCU 79
It was a long weekend of racing on the road for the Florida women, as they defeated Florida Atlantic on Thursday, Miami (FL) yesterday, and now FGCU.
Staying perfect for the weekend (and for her NCAA career thus far) was freshman Mabel Zavaros, who is quickly making clear that she’ll be a star at Florida. The butterfly specialist took to the butterfly events for the first time in college — she raced backstroke, IM, and distance free in her four previous wins this week. In the 100 fly, Zavaros was 54.63 to earn the win, and she posted a 1:58.75 to take the 200 in an NCAA ‘B’ cut. In both, she beat FGCU’s Tina Elmgreen, a 2018 NCAA qualifier in the 200 fly.
Zavaros was also a member of Florida’s winning 200 medley relay, splitting a 25.18 on the fly leg.
The Florida freshmen were strong today as a whole, not just Zavaros. Vanessa Pearl excelled with two wins, breaking 2:00 in the 200 IM for a 1:59.82 showing and registering a 1:03.13 to sail to a victory in the 100 breast. That’s a notable win for Pearl in the 100 breast, as UF’s sole swimming losses in their first two meets this season came in that event.
Leah Braswell, another freshman, took a win in the 500 free (4:58.79) and was part of an intense three-way battle in the 1000 free.
Braswell unleashed a 27.28 final 50 to try to snag the win in the 1000, but it was senior Hannah Burns who beat her to the wall in 10:06.49. Braswell was a fingernail back at 10:06.56, and sophomore Nikki Miller was right in the mix at 10:06.81.
Junior Tori Bindi broke 1:50 for a 1:49.82 win in the 200 free, and junior Sherridon Dressel found her speed in the 50 free (23.41) and 100 free (50.25). Florida closed out the meet with another relay win in the 400 free relay, getting a 50.57 2nd split from Kelly Fertel.
