Four Sarasota victories and five U.S. Olympic trial cuts highlighted Florida swimming on Saturday morning.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The University of Florida men’s swimming and diving team will head back to Gainesville after three successful days of competition at the 2020 Toyota U.S. Open at the Selby Aquatic Center in Sarasota, Fla.
In Saturday’s final session, a Gator finished first in four of five events, highlighted by five U.S. Olympic trial cuts.
Overall, Florida posted seven new LCM personal-bests and 20 trial cuts through three days in Sarasota.
Robert Finke started off the final day with a dominant swim of 15:09.14 in the 1,500 free. His effort would help him win the Sarasota site by 26 seconds and sits as the 18th-fastest time in the world this year.
Finishing behind Finke in Sarasota was Brennan Gravley, notching a third-place mark and Olympic trial cut effort of 15:36.65. The final Gators to hit the water in the distance event were Advait Page in fourth (15:52.93) and Nicholas Hernandez-Tome in fifth (15:59.55).
After notching a regional win in the final event of Friday night’s session, Clark Beach continued his success in the backstroke, this time in the 200. He would pick up a win with his second trial cut of the event, besting the remainder of the field by a full second with the top time of 2:00.21.
Ethan Beach finished next for Florida, placing third with a swim of 2:03.54. Ryan Lochte (fifth) and Miguel Cancel (sixth) finished behind him to conclude Gator competitors.
Eric Friese and Kieran Smith went head-to-head in the 100 free as Friese (49.91) would out touch Smith by just .02 seconds to get the first-place finish. Smith’s time earned the Ridgefield, Conn. his fourth Olympic trial cut of the meet.
19-time All-American Brett Fraser finished behind the pair of current Gators in third with a time of 50.73. The next UF finisher was Trey Freeman in sixth (51.16) with Mitch D’Arrigo behind him in seventh (51.46).
Former Gators Enzo Martinez-Scarpe (10th) and Grant Sanders (14th) wrapped up the Florida-filled event.
Amro Al-Wir lead Florida’s breast group for the second-consecutive session, posting a Sarasota runner-up bid with a time of 2:16.10. Kevin Vargas would finish behind him by just .40 seconds, good for third and a trial cut.
Dubas concluded top-five finishers at the Sarasota site with his time of 2:18.32. Dillon Hillis (2:29.68) and Sanders (2:26.83) would complete their 2020 U.S. Open experience in the event.
Cancel capped off the three-day meet with a victory in the 200 fly, touching in a new lifetime-best of 2:01.58. His previous best was 2:02.60 set at last year’s Speedo Champions Series in Gainesville.
Vargas was the only other Gator in the final event, registering a swim of 2:04.64 and a seventh-place finish.
What’s Next
Florida will jump right back into competition at the Auburn Invitational from Nov. 18-20 at the James E. Martin Aquatics Center. This competition will mark the final swimming contest of the fall, while divers will take to the boards on Dec. 2-4 at the Miami Diving Invitational to wrap-up all competition in 2020.
Gator Medals (will update after Saturday comprehensive results)
Gold- Smith (400 free), Smith (200 free)
Silver- Finke (800 free), Finke (400 IM)
Bronze- Smith (800 free), Lochte (200 IM)
U.S. Olympic Trial Cuts
Clark Beach- 100 back, 200 back
D’Arrigo- 400 free
Finke- 800 free, 400 IM, 1,500 free
Freeman- 400 free, 200 free
Gravley- 800 free, 1,500 free
Lochte- 200 IM
Mestre- 800 free, 400 free
Smith- 800 free, 400 free, 200 free, 100 free
Vargas- 400 IM, 200 breast
Hillis- 100 breast
Follow the Gators:
| FloridaGators.com<file:///C:/Users/RyanS/Desktop/FloridaGators.com> | Twitter<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__twitter.com_GatorsSwimDv&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=ua2_TIenhWTQpARnYaIZFRRcuUoJH7xM7vpaxqNCqoI&s=Qmc2YyW4J-LE2kAoKLvF_Li6ihFor3mP706rbVHuYwc&e= > | Instagram<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.instagram.com_gatorsswimdv_&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=ua2_TIenhWTQpARnYaIZFRRcuUoJH7xM7vpaxqNCqoI&s=P7VEoSPu0wNGksN5NRg-GzbXe96YGUCpnydq0IuLjRE&e= > | Facebook<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.facebook.com_GatorsSwimDv_&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=ua2_TIenhWTQpARnYaIZFRRcuUoJH7xM7vpaxqNCqoI&s=8MEA6x5iayxi3pqyK2GUAcDp_jr0bOEAEkPUTlM8nd0&e= > |
