SOFLO’s Kathleen Golding Takes Fifth On Day Three Of SEC Championships; Florida Remains In Lead

By Sharon Robb
COLLEGE STATION, Tex., February 16, 2023—University of Florida’s Kathleen Golding finished fifth in the 400-yard individual medley at the Southeastern Conference Championships Thursday at the Rec Center Natatorium.

Golding, a junior and team captain, finished in a best time 4:07.83, dropping 1.35 seconds. She was fifth fastest in prelims in 4:08.88. Her finals splits were 56.36 (butterfly), 1:03.45 (backstroke), 1:11.40 (breaststroke) and 56.62 (100 freestyle. Golding has the 200 butterfly left to swim.

Florida teammate Emma Weyant of Sarasota won the 400 IM in 4:01.18.

South Carolina senior Patrick Groters was disqualified in the 400 IM finals after going 3:51.02 in prelims. It was his final event of the meet.

South Carolina freshman Kyle Korvick of Miami was 41st in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:37.42.

University of Florida continues to pull away from the field and getting closer to sweeping the meet titles. The Gator women have 760 points. Defending champion Tennessee is second with 483. The Gator men, on course to defend their title, lead with 810.5 and Texas A&M is second with 628.

THURSDAY RESULTS
WOMEN TEAM TOTALS: 1. Florida 760, 2. Tennessee 483, 3. Kentucky 452, 4. LSU 439, 5. Georgia 391, 6. South Carolina 385, 7. Alabama 364, 8. Auburn 326, 9. Texas &M 319, 10. Arkansas 245, 11. Missouri 217, 12. Vanderbilt 94.

WOMEN RESULTS
400-yard individual medley: 1. Emma Weyant, UF 4:01.18, 2. Lauren Poole, KY 4:04.62, 3. Giulia Goerigk, TAMU 4:06.84, 5. Kathleen Golding, UF 4:07.83, 10. Anna Auld, UF 4:10.36.

100-yard butterfly: 1. Maggie MacNeil, LSU 48.99, SEC, meet record, 2. Meghan Lee, AUB 51.01, 3. Rhyan White, BAMA 51.47.

200-yard freestyle: 1. Brooklyn Douthwright, TENN 1:42.64, 2. Chloe Stepanek, TAMU 1:43.37, 3. Micayla Cronk, US 1:43.77.

1-meter diving: 1. Brooke Schultz, SC 345.05, 2. Maha Amer, UF 337.85, 3. Chiara Pellacani, LSU 330.95.

MEN TEAM TOTALS: 1. Florida 810.5, 2. Texas A&M 628, 3. Auburn 560, 4. Tennessee 537, 5. Georgia 424.5, 6. Alabama 354, 7. Missouri 297.5, 8. South Carolina 270.5, 9. Kentucky 266, 10. LSU 177.

MEN RESULTS
400-yard individual medley: 1. Baylor Nelson, TAMU 3:38.14, 2. Anze Fers Erzen, TAMU 3:40.10, 3. Ian Grum, GA 3:40.32.

100-yard butterfly: 1. Josh Liendo, UF 44.11, 2. Jordan Crooks, TENN 44.37, 3. Clement Secchi, UMIZ 45.08.

200-yard freestyle: 1. Charlie Hawke, BAMA 1:31.20, 2. Jack Dahlgren, UMIZ 1:31.34, 3. Macguire McDuff, UF 1:32.34.

3-meter diving: 1. Bryden Hattie, TENN 429.20, 2. Victor Povzner, TAMU 412.65, 3. Takuto Endo, TAMU 400.35.

Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com
http://www.swim4soflo.com

Gators Sweep 800 Free Relays On Day One Of SEC Championships; Florida Gold Coast Well-Represented

By Sharon Robb
COLLEGE STATION, Tex., February 14, 2023—University of Florida opened with two relay wins Tuesday in the Southeastern Conference Championships at the Rec Center Natatorium.

What’s expected to be a showdown between defending women’s champion Tennessee and Florida for the women’s title, the Gators got the ball rolling in the 800-yard freestyle relay.

Florida women won the 800-yard freestyle relay in 6:57.11 with Ekaterina Nikonova, Talia Bates, Emma Weyant and Micayla Cronk while Tennessee was second in 6:58.26.

The Gators were also second in the women’s 200-yard medley relay in 1:34.76 just behind Alabama in 1:34.20 with Aris Runnels, Nina Kucheran, Olivia Peoples and Katie Mack.

Defending men’s champion Florida also won the 800 free relay in 6:08.64 with Macguire McDuff, Julian Smith, Alfonso Mestre and Jake Mitchell. Auburn was second in 6:12.39.

Florida men were also runners-up in the 200-yard medley relay in 1:21.73 with Adam Chaney, Aleksas Savickas, Eric Friese and Josh Liendo.

In diving, Brooke Schultz of South Carolina won the 3-meter springboard with 356.35 points and Victor Povzner of Texas A&M won the 1-meter with 375.50.

The Florida Gold Coast is well-represented with qualifiers. They are sisters Kathleen and Molly Golding of Florida, Anna Auld of Florida, Patrick Groters and Kyle Korvick of South Carolina.

TUESDAY RESULTS
WOMEN TEAM TOTALS: 1. LSU 178, 2. Florida 150, 3. Kentucky 149, 4. South Carolina 142, 5. Tennessee 136.
WOMEN RESULTS
200-yard medley relay: 1. Alabama 1:34.20 (Rhyan White, Avery Wiseman, Emily Jones,Kalia Antoniou), 2. Florida 1:34.76 (Aris Runnels, Nina Kucheran, Olivia Peoples, Katie Mack), 3. Tennessee 1:35.53.

3-meter diving: 1. Brooke Schultz, SC 356.35, 2. Sophie Verzyl, SC 349.65, 3. Chaira Pellacani, LSU 341.85.

800-yard freestyle relay: 1. Florida 6:57.11 (Ekaterina Nikonova, Talia Bates, Emma Weyant, Micayla Cronk), 2. Tennessee 6:58.26, 3. Georgia 6:58.90.

MEN TEAM TOTALS: 1. Texas A&M 229, 2. Auburn 166, 3. Tennessee 159, 4. Florida 138, 5. Missouri 126.
MEN RESULTS
1-meter diving: 1. Victor Povzner, TAMU 375.50, 2. Bryden Hatties, TENN 364.40, 3. Rhett Hensley, TAMU 343.60.

200-yard medley relay: 1. Tennessee 1:21.43 (Bjoern Kammann, Michael Houlie, Jordan Crooks, Guilherme Santos), 2. Florida 1:21.73 (Adam Chaney, Aleksas Savickas, Eric Friese, Josh Liendo), 3. Auburn 1:22.98.

800-yard freestyle relay: 1. Florida 6:08.64 (Macguire McDuff, Julian Smith, Alfonso Mestre, Jake Mitchell), 2. Auburn 6:12.39, 3. Alabama 6:12.46.

Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com
http://www.swim4soflo.com

Florida Gators Defend SEC Men’s Swimming And Diving Title; Tennessee Wins Women’s Crown; Patrick Groters Breaks USC School Record

By Sharon Robb
KNOXVILLE, Tenn., February 20, 2022—University of Florida men’s team won its tenth consecutive Southeastern Conference Swimming and Diving Championship Saturday night at Jones Aquatics Center.

The Gators won with 1,414 points, a 476-point cushion over Tennessee and Alabama. It was the fourth time in team history the Gators cracked 1,400 points.

And the Gators did it without defending SEC champions Bobby Finke and Dillon Hillis, both scratched from the meet because of COVID-19 protocols.

The Gators swept all the men’s relays. In individual events, Olympian and senior Kieran Smith led the Gators’ winning the 400-yard individual medley. Sophomore Adam Chaney won the 100-yard backstroke, breaking Ryan Lochte’s school record in 44.51.

The Gators dominated the final day of competition taking seven of the top nine spots in the 1,650-yard freestyle.

Winning for the Gators were:
200-yard medley relay: Adam Chaney, Dillon Hillis, Eric Friese, Alberto Mester, 1:22.06, SEC record.

800-yard freestyle relay: Kieran Smith, Trey Freeman, Oskar Lindholm, Alfonso Mestre, 6:08.00, SEC record.

200-yard freestyle relay: Adam Chaney, Eric Friese, Kieran Smith, Macguire McDuff, 1:15.18, SEC record.

400-yard individual medley: Kieran Smith, Senior, 3:39.33.

400-yard medley relay: Adam Chaney, Amro Al-Wir, Eric Friese, Kieran Smith, 3:02.61.

1650-yard freestyle: Trey Freeman, Junior, 14:39.74.

200-yard backstroke: Kieran Smith, Senior, 1:39.51.

400-yard freestyle relay: Macguire McDuff, Adam Chaney, Eric Friese, Kieran Smith, 2:46.91.

It was the 43rd overall title for the Gators. Florida is now primed for the March 23-26 NCAA Men’s Championships in Atlanta.

In the women’s competition, Tennessee won its second women’s title in three years. The Volunteers won with 1,313.5 points ahead of Kentucky with 1,043 and Alabama, 1,038. The Gators were fifth with 905 points. It was Tennessee’s highest point total in team history.

Freshman Ellen Walshe became the third woman in the team’s history to win three individual events in a single SEC Championships.

Walshe won the 400-yard individual medley in 4:01.53, second fastest in NCAA history this season, and 100-yard butterfly in 50.34. She also won the 200 IM in 1:52.97. She was a member of the winning 800-yard freestyle relay.

The Vols also picked up a win from freshman Julia Mrozinski in the 500-yard freestyle in 4:35.95, third fastest in the NCAA this season.

The Volunteers won the 800-yard freestyle relay and finished runner-up in the remaining relays. All five relays were under NCAA A cuts.

Other Tennessee winners were:
800-yard freestyle relay: Julia Mrozinski, Ellen Walshe, Trude Rothrock, Tjasa Pintar – 6:56.81, pool record.

100-yard breaststroke: Mona McSharry, 57.50.

1650-yard freestyle: Kristen Stege, 15:42.37.

Among Florida Gold Coast swimmer results:

South Florida Aquatic Club’s Kathleen Golding, a junior at University of Florida, competed in three events. She was 18th in the 200 IM in a best time 1:57.63, seventh in the 400 IM in 4:11.14 and 21st in the 1,650-yard freestyle in 16:27.95. She dropped 1.32 second off her previous 1:58.95 200 IM.

Florida freshman Anna Auld was 33rd in the 500 freestyle in 4:48.87; 11th in the 400 IM in a best time 4:11.02 and 10th in the 1,650-yard freestyle in a best time 16:16.87, dropping 10.25 seconds.

SOFLO’s Molly Golding and Miguel Cancel did not compete.

In his SEC debut for University of South Carolina, Aruba’s Patrick Groters competed in three events. The former NSU University School and Pine Crest swimmer broke the school record in the 200 IM C-final with a best time of 1:43.77. The previous school record was 1:44.00 by Tomas Peribonio in 2018. Groters finished first in the C-final and was bumped up from 17th to 15th place after two swimmers were disqualified from the A-final. He was 18th in the 400 IM in a best time 3:47.17, dropping 1.12 and 13th in the 200 backstroke in 1:43.24, also a best time dropping 1.93.

Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com
http://www.swim4soflo.com