Porter now owns the fourth-fastest 100 breast swim in school history.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida women’s swimming and diving hit the water in the second preliminary session of the Auburn Fall Invitational at the James E. Martin Aquatics Center on Thursday morning, highlighted by a new top 10 program swim by Cecilia Porter in the 100 breast and two new lifetime bests by Talia Bates.
Porter set a new personal best for the third time this season in the 100 breast with an effort of 1:00.02, the fourth-fastest time in school history. The reigning SEC Freshman of the week has improved her time by 1.82 seconds since Oct. 30 versus Georgia.
Bates posted a pair of lifetime-best wins to win two morning events in the 200 free and 100 back. Her new top 100 back just missed a new top 10 program swim.
UF hit the water fast from the jump, taking the top-three spots in the 400 IM to begin the day. Vanessa Pearl posted the fastest time with an effort of 4:11.82, with Madison Kolessar (4:14.09) and Kathleen Golding (4:15.16) finished in second and third.
Rosie Zavaros finished in fifth in a time of 4:17.13. The top-five finishers all claimed B-cuts, while Pearl’s time sits as the third-best in the nation.
Florida had three more competitors in the event, with Allie Piccirillo earning a ninth-place nod with a time of 4:20.48. Ellie Hatton (4:22.17) and Leah Degeorge (4:33.37) rounded out Gator representatives.
All seven are set to swim in the championship and consolation finals tonight.
A trio of Gators posted top-eight finishes in the 100 fly, led by Kenady Beil and Amanda Ray- a duo of freshmen. Beil touched in second (53.93), while Ray was right behind her in third-place with a time of 54.19. The final top-eight placer was Celi Guzman, who finished in seventh-place overall (54.95).
The final three Gators are set to compete in the consolation final, with Allie Piccirillo leading the way in ninth-place in a swim of 55.36. Liz Watts would finish in 56.96, while Chade Nersicio touched in 58.47.
Seventeen Gators competed in the 200 free prelim, with seven of the top eight swims being tallied by a Gator. Behind Bates’ lifetime-best of 1:46.13 was Elise Bauer and Nikki Miller tying for the runner-up spot with a time of 1:47.78. Leah Braswell would finish behind the pair in fourth, before another tie in fifth-place between Taylor Ault and Annette Schultz (1:47.97). The final Gator in the top eight was Katie Mack, who touched in 1:47.93.
Leading Florida in the consolation final will be Bettina Boszormenyi, who finished in 10th. Lain Shahboz (12th) and Gabby Hillis (13th) finished behind each other. Kirschtine Balbuena and Ria Malhotra will be the final pair of Gators to swim in the evening as they finished in 15th and 16th, respectively.
Finishing in third-place behind Porter’s 100 breast swim of was Tylor Mathieu with an effort of 1:01.98. Pearl finished in seventh, landing a spot in the championship final this evening.
Four of the five consolation heat entries will be Gators, led by Adrianna DeBeor’s seed time of 1:03.58 and Carly Schwab, who finished right behind her in 10th. Ellie Hatton (1:05.27) and Ellie Zweifel (1:05.51) will also hit the water in the heat.
Wrapping up the morning session behind Bates was Katie Mack and her second-place effort of 54.11. Shahboz would go onto finish in fourth (54.62), while Schultz notched her second tie of the day to move on to the championship heat. Celi Guzman and Rosie Zavaros rounded-out the top-eight finishers and representatives in the final heat of the day.
A trio of UF swimmers will take to the water in the consolation heat of the event, led by Balbuena and her seed swim of 55.86. Boszormenyi and Zweifel will both swim in their second final of the night after claiming top-16 efforts.
What’s Next
The women’s divers will take to the boards in the 1-meter prelim and final. Thursday’s evening session is slated to begin with the 200 medley relay at 7:00 p.m. ET, followed by the championship and consolation heats of the individual events from the morning. Competition will conclude with the 800 free relay.
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