With most of American swimming shutting down for the Thanksgiving holiday, we’ll take the opportunity to catch up on another meet from what was a loaded swimming weekend.
At the 2011 edition of the Georgia Tech Invitational, the Florida Gators were the magnet that drew most of the nation-wide interest. But what fans would have seen when they looked into the results is a lot of other less-heralded schools stepping up in a big way.
Keep in mind that Florida, unlike most of the collegiate world, doesn’t typically put on a big taper for their mid-season invite. They still got a very encouraging time from their 200 free relay of 1:31.99 to lead the meet off. Despite the transfer of Shara Stafford, the program’s best freestyler, that time is still half-a-second faster than the squad went at this same meet last year.
The Florida men, however, have not been as good to replace their top sprinters. Their 200 free relay marked only a 1:23.07, which placed them a shocking 5th in this meet – about 4 seconds slower than champions Clemson. That Clemson relay, however, continues to hold strong in their final season of existence. With a hugely veteran relay (it really has to be) of three seniors and a junior, they posted a 1:19.18 that is the best in the country so far this year.
In the 500 free, Virginia Tech senior Erika Hajnal won in a 4:41.56 ahead of Florida star Elizabeth Beisel in 4:43.90. Hajnal, who is a swimmer that has impressed me for years, finally appears to be reaching her full potential with that mark that ranks her 6th in the country this year. That swim, in fact, is a full 3 seconds faster than what she went this same weekend in 2010.
In the men’s equivalent of the same race, Florida State senior Mateo de Angulo became only the 2nd man in the country to put up an NCAA Automatic qualifying time in any event (a day after Stanford’s Chad La Tourette did so in the mile) with a 4:15.43 to win the men’s 500. For the Colombian National, who didn’t even qualify for the NCAA Championships last year in his first season in division 1, this is a stunning improvement. His time would have placed him 4th at NCAA’s in 2011.
De Angulo would go on to win the men’s 1650 in 14:49.94, which is another automtaic qualifying time and bettered La Tourette’s mark as the best in the country. It is exceedingly rare for men to swim “A” cuts in the fall season, much moreso than the women, and to do it twice in the same meet is very impressive. He would go on to take victories in the 400 IM (3:47.23), ranked 2nd in the country; and 200 free (1:37.36). He would punctuate a stellar performance by anchoring Florida State’s runner-up 800 free relay with a 1:35.98.
He was so impressive at this meet, that it frankly doesn’t matter if he was at full rest or not. He’s easily earned his way into the NCAA Championships and as such should be able to train straight through ACC’s. If he can even match these times at NCAA’s (or better yet, improve upon them), he could be looking at something like two top-5 finishes, as well as a B-Final in the 400 IM.
The women’s 50 free was a show down of three of the best sprinters in the country – Florida’s Sarah Bateman (22.44), Florida Gulf Coast’s Emma Svensson (22.55), and Miami’s Kelsi Hall (22.69). Svensson is the real impressor in this race – that time (specifically her 22.54 relay leadoff from the 200 free relay) ranks her 7th in the country. Everyone knew she was going to have a big impact when she signed with the small program at FGCU, but I’m not sure anyone knew she’d have this big of an impact. We’re only halfway through her freshman season, and she’s already got the 7 fastest 50 free times in the brief history of the program.
Not only has she been killer individually, she’s lifted the program’s relays to new heights. The Eagles’ 200 medley relay, their best of the 5, took a dominant win in 1:40.95 (with four underclassmen no less). They bested the Gators’ squad on two legs (Svensson over Beisel in backstroke, and junior Dani Beaubrun topping Hilda Luthersdottir on the breaststroke), and were close on the fly leg. That breaks the school record by almost two seconds, and ranks them 9th in the country this year. The target is a 1:38-mid to give FGCU their first ever NCAA qualifiers, with Svensson right on the edge of an invite in her individual races. For a program that has gotten good faster than any program in history, arguably, this could be a corner-turning season.
Though Florida wasn’t much rested, that didn’t prevent Beisel from putting up a great 4:07.22 in the 400 IM. That’s her best time on the season and ranks her 2nd in the country, behind Cal’s Caitlin Leverenz but ahead of Stanford’s Maya DiRado. We’re still waiting to see the fall invite from the other IM contender, Katinka Hosszu, and Stanford will likely put in some rest before the Texas Invite the first weekend of December.
The Florida women also performed very well in the 200 free. Junior Jamie Bohunicky took the victory in 1:46.14, and freshman Natasha Fung made a huge impression by taking 2nd in 1:46.49. Those two combined with National Teamers Beisel and Teresa Crippen to touch in a 7:14.29 in the 800 free relay (though neither swam nearly as well as they did in the individual). That ranks them 4th in the country, even on limited rest, and if Bohunicky and Fung match their individual efforts, they’re right alongside Cal for 2nd.
Hajnal wasn’t the only Hokie to have a strong meet. The Virginia Tech men also swam splendidly. Zach McGinnis posted a 1:44.21 that ranks 4th in the country and is faster than he was all of last season. Greg Mahon also won the 100 fly in 48.27, en route to an overall men’s victory in a bit of an upset. Tech doubled in the 100 butterflies, with a win in the women’s race by junior Heather Savage in 53.63. That included going out hard and holding off a furious finish from Florida’s Bateman (53.68).
For the Florida State women, the highlight was the continued development of sophomore Tiffany Oliver. She took the women’s 100 free in 49.08, her best swim of the season and a career-best. Her teammate Elizabeth Pepper took top honors in the 200 fly in 1:58.23, a career-best. She is having a great first season in college, and is a name to watch for Seminole fans.
For Georgia Tech, the highlight was the women’s 200 free relay that cut more than four-tenths off of the school record in the women’s 200 free relay with a runner-up finish in the 200 free relay in 1:32.51. That swim was done on the back of three seniors (Lexi Weber, Keren Siebner, and Jessie Mason) and anchored by a junior Katie Riley. Siebner would later set another school record in the women’s 100 fly, with a 3rd-place finish in the 100 fly in 53.83.
The Yellow Jacket men didn’t take any victories in their home invitational, but the results were still very encouraging. Their top men’s swimmers trained through this meet, and still blew away their performances from last season, when they rested for it. There were a few early-season struggles for this squad, especially as they adapted a huge new freshman class to their relatively low-yardage training, but they now seem to be firing on all cylinders.
Full meet results here, with team scores below. Only Auburn and Alabama’s divers were in attendance.
Women – Team Rankings – Through Event 234
1. University of Florida 1196.5 2. Florida State University 1031
3. Virginia Tech 874.5 4. Georgia Tech 606
5. University of Miami 564.5 6. Florida Gulf Coast University 508
7. Clemson University 338.5 8. Florida Atlantic University 331
9. Auburn Universiy 194 10. University of Alabama 46
Men – Team Rankings – Through Event 234
1. Virginia Tech 1319 2. University of Florida 1198.5
3. Florida State University 1022.5 4. Georgia Tech 630.5
5. Clemson University 603.5 6. Florida Atlantic University 376
7. Auburn Universiy 86 8. University of Alabama 63
9. University of Miami 30
To clarify: Florida was not rested. Also, there are some Gators going to the Winter Nationals. Their practices were apparently bumped up in intensity leading up to the invite, which makes their performanes all the more impressive.
Great to see a CCSA team get some press!!
Natasha fungs 200 was very impressive! I can only imagine the training group they have in Gainesville!! It’ll be interesting to see how she performs come taper time. Hopefully her 100 or IM can even out with her stunner 200