TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida State swimming and diving teams will face a tough test with a pair of meets this weekend. The Seminoles will visit Florida in the Fresh From Florida Sunshine Showdown on Friday before returning home to host Florida Southern, West Florida and North Florida on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Morcom Aquatics Center.
“We’re looking forward to this weekend,” FSU head coach Neal Studd said. “We’re looking forward to heading to Gainesville to swim fast. Their women are the top-ranked team in the country and their men are right up there too. It’s a tall task but we’re excited to see what we can do.”
The Last Time Out
- Florida State secured two victories over Georgia Tech in Atlanta. The men’s team (160-140) picked up its second victory over a team receiving votes in the TYP Top 25, while the women won (177-123).
- The Seminoles are a combine 5-3 this season with the men 3-1, 2-1 ACC and the women 2-2, 0-2 ACC.
- Freshman Peter Varjasi won two individual events, taking the 50 free (20.04) and 100 free (44.03), recording times ranked within the top 15 in the nation.
- The divers were dominant as senior Cam Thatcher won 3-meter with a career dual meet best score of 395.63. The Noles put the meet away with a sweep of 1-meter led by junior Joshua Davidson (325.28) followed by Thatcher (318.90) and senior Aidan Faminoff (318.60) in third.
- Sophomore Nina Kucheran led the Noles with three wins, claiming the 100 breast (1:02.16) and 200 breast (2:16.27) after starting the meet off helping FSU to a win in the 200 medley relay.
- In its four meets this season, FSU has faced six teams that have been ranked or received votes, putting up a 3-3 record in those contests.
Florida
- Friday’s diving events will begin at 12 p.m. and swimming will start at 2 p.m. at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
- The meet will feature 16 events including the 100’s and 200’s of each stroke in addition to the 50 free, 500 free, 1000 free, 200 IM, 400 medley relay and 200 free relay. Both teams will compete in 1-meter and 3-meter diving.
- Florida holds the men’s series lead at 58-24-1 as well as the women’s 45-3.
- Live results will be available through meet mobile and the meet can be viewed on SEC Network plus:
Watch: http://www.espn.com/watch?id=196f6a74-8270-423e-9db0-7d64040ccb2b
On the Gators
- The women are 6-0 this season with wins over three ranked teams (No. 18 Minnesota, No. 6 Missouri, No. 12 Georgia). This marks the best dual meet start since 2002-03 when the Gators went 9-0 in the early going.
- The men are 5-1 with a ranked win over No. 14 Georgia.
- Sophomore Kieran Smith won his second SEC Men’s Swimmer of the Week following the win over the Bulldogs after winning the 200 free (1:34.08) and 100 fly (47.90).
Quad Meet
- The Seminoles will return home to host Florida Southern, West Florida and North Florida in the third annual quad meet at 1 p.m. at the Morcom Aquatics Center on Saturday. Florida Southern will field both a men’s and women’s team, while West Florida and North Florida will only compete in the women’s meet.
- The meet has been designated as the annual FSU Kids Club Day and the Gold Letter Meet for SAAC.
- The contest will follow the 16 event format including 100’s and 200’s of each stroke in addition to the 50 free, 500 free, 1000 free, 200 IM, 200 medley relay and 200 free relay. The women will compete in 1-meter and 3-meter diving.
- Florida State holds each of the four series leads:
Men
- Florida Southern 6-0
Women
- Florida Southern 6-0
- West Florida 5-0
- North Florida 9-0
- Live results can be found on Seminoles.com andsportstiming.com:
https://sportstiming.com/event/florida-state-university-directional-dual-meets/?instance_id=38656
On The Opponents
- West Florida is 8-0 and is currently ranked No. 16 in the CSCAA Division II TYR Top 25 poll.
- North Florida is 1-2 after picking up its first win of the season over Georgia Southern on Oct. 20, 169-85.
- Florida Southern’ s men are ranked No. 16 in the CSCAA Division II TYR Top 25 poll and the women were fourth in receiving votes.
- Freshman Emily Drabick was recognized as the Sunshine State Conference Female Swimmer of the Week after leading the Mocs against Rollins after winning the 100 breast, 200 breast and 200 IM. Talor Hamilton was named the Men’s Swimmer of the Week after winning the 50 free and 100 fly in the 158-101 win over Rollins.
- The Mocs are 0-3 in the women’s meets and the men are 2-1.
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