No. 6 Men's Swim & Dive Takes Down South Carolina

Friday, November 14

Columbia, S.C.

5:00 PM

Florida Gators

South Carolina

No. 6 Men's Swim & Dive Takes Down South Carolina

Saturday, November 15, 2003 | Men's Swimming & Diving

The No. 2 University of Florida women's swimming and diving team and the sixth-ranked Florida men's team both led from start to finish and swept South Carolina Friday evening at the Carolina Natatorium.

The women's team (6-1 overall, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) won nine of 13 events in cruising to a 135-91 victory, while the men's squad (4-1, 2-0) won eight of 13 events en route to a 128-106 win.

Senior Sara McLarty (DeLand, Fla.) led the Gators with an NCAA provisional qualifying win in the 200-yard freestyle (1:49.47) as well as a victory in the 200-yard backstroke (2:02.27).

Florida won the 200-yard medley relay to get things started as sophomores Maureen Farrell (Northridge, Calif.), Vipa Bernhardt (Bad Hersfeld, Germany) and Mary Uhle (Sankt Ingbert, Germany) and senior Chantal Gibney (Dublin, Ireland) finished with a time of 1:45.72.

Senior Janelle Atkinson (Jamaica) then won the next event by swimming the 1,000-yard freestyle in a time of 9:52.50 as the Gators took the top four spots in the event to lead by a commanding score of 31-5.

McLarty then won the 200-yard freestyle, while Uhle finished second with a provisional time of 1:50.09 to bump Florida's lead to 46-9 and the Gators never looked back. Freshman Leah Retrum (Columbus, Ind.) won the 400-yard individual medley with a provision time of 4:17.91, while sophomore Katie McCann (Walpole, Mass.) came in second with another provisional mark (4:20.34).

Senior Nicole Bolt (Orlando, Fla.) added another win for the Gators in the three-meter with a zone qualifying score of 313.80 before senior Casey Seland (Longwood, Fla.) took top honors in the 200-yard butterfly (2:04.27).

Freshman Katie Ball (Cincinnati, Ohio) won the 500-yard freestyle (4:54.15) and sophomore Danielle Duncan (Overland Park, Kan.) touched the wall first in the 200-yard breast (2:19.21) to close out the Gator victories.

Senior Carlos Jayme (Goias, Brazil) and sophomore Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) paced the men's team with two individual event wins apiece.

The men's team also began the meet well by winning four of the first five events, beginning with the 200-yard medley relay. Junior Gabriel Mangabeira (Piratininga, Brazil), junior Will Ratliff (Mt. Sterling, Ky.), junior Adam Sioui (Ontario, Canada) and Jayme finished with a time of 1:32.37.

Junior Steve Friedlander (Coral Springs, Fla.) then won the 1,000-yard freestyle (9:24.66) to extend Florida's lead to 29-7 after the first two events. The Gamecocks then took the 200-yard freestyle before Jayme won the 50-yard freestyle (22.05) and Lochte placed first with a provisional time in the 400-yard individual medley (3:51.35) to give the Gators a 60-33 lead.

Sioui also won the 200-yard butterfly (1:50.52) with Jayme picking up his second win in the 100-yard freestyle (45.75) and Lochte earning his second victory and his second provisional mark in the 200-yard backstroke (1:47.14).

Junior Scott Kaufmann (Sparks, Nev.) took top honors in the 500-yard freestyle (4:34.36), while junior Zach Wilcox (Yarrow Point, Wash.) amassed a zone qualifying score of 310.80 on the one-meter to finish second.

Both teams return to action Dec. 4-6. Both the men and women's diving teams will travel to the Texas Invitational in Austin, while the swimming teams will compete in the U.S. Open in Federal Way, Wash.

Women's Team Scores

Florida 135

South Carolina 91

Men's Team Scores

Florida 128

South Carolina 106

Florida Winners

WOMEN'S

200-Yard Medley Relay

Florida A, 1:45.72 (Farrell, Bernhardt, Uhle, Gibney)

1,000-Yard Free

Janelle Atkinson, 9:52.50

200-Yard Free

Sara McLarty, 1:49.47