Men’s 500-yard freestyle – My First-Career Individual SEC Championship

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WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 18, 2015

Florida Captures Two Titles on Day Two of SEC Championships

AUBURN, Ala. – The University of Florida No. 1 men’s and No.4-ranked women’s swimming & diving teams sit second and third following day two of the Southeastern Conference Championships. The Gators captured their third and fourth SEC titles during tonight’s finals. This week’s meet is being held at the James E. Martin Aquatic Center in Auburn, Ala.

Florida’s women set the tone in the 200-yard individual medley relay as the Gators captured first, second and third in the 200-yard individual medley, highlighted by redshirt freshman Theresa Michalak capturing her first-career SEC Championship with a mark of 1:56.09. Right behind Michalak were juniors Lindsey McKnight and Ashlee Linn who clocked times of 1:56.16 and 1:56.40, respectively. Their three times rank third, fourth and fifth in school history.

In the other individual events for the women, juniors Jessica Thielmann and Natalie Hinds finished runner-up and sixth in the 500-yard and 50-yard freestyle races with times of 4:36.62 and 22.13 seconds, respectively.

On the men’s side, sophomore Mitch D’Arrigo began the night by winning the men’s 500-yard freestyle, his first-career SEC Championship, in a time of 4:10.77. That mark ranks him second in program history behind senior Dan Wallace’s time of 4:10.73, which he set at last season’s conference championships.

In addition to D’Arrigo, senior Eduardo Solaeche-Gomez and freshman Caeleb Dressel finished runner-up in the men’s 200-yard individual medley (1:43.15) and 50-yard freestyle (18.93). Earlier in the day, Dressel clocked Florida’s second-fastest time in program history, as he touched the wall in 18.89 seconds during this morning’s prelims.

Florida’s men (Matt Curby, Corey Main, Pawel Werner, Dressel) and women (Hinds, McKnight, Linn, Michalak) placed third and sixth in the lone relay event of the evening, the 200-yard freestyle relay. The men’s time was 1:17.60, which ranks fourth in school history, meanwhile the women’s clocked a mark of 1:29.43.

UF is back in action tomorrow for day three of the SEC Championships with prelims beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET and finals at 7:00 p.m.

Coaches Corner:
Head Coach Gregg Troy:
On the women’s 200 IM finishing first, second and third…
“It was great. To have those three girls (Theresa Michalak, Lindsey McKnight, Ashlee Linn) do that well is great. They are all younger so to have big improvements and post their best times is great. It’s tough when you have to replace Elizabeth Beisel but they did a great job.”

On the men’s 500-yard freestyle…
“It was a good race. Those guys (Mitch D’Arrigo and Dan Wallace) know each other real well. That was race was a little bit of cat-and-mouse. Dan knows that Mitch likes to take over in the end and Mitch knew that Dan likes to get a fast start so it was fun for both of them. It was good times for each of them and I’m real pleased with where they are as we look towards to NCAA meet.”

On what each team needs to improve upon…
“We have to come in tomorrow morning and do really well. We were great this morning and we put ourselves in a good position tonight and I thought we did well this evening. We could have been better in a couple of spots but we just have to keep coming to the blocks. We closed the gap a little bit with Georgia on the men’s side and it’s really tight in the women’s meet. It’s really fun.”

Talking Gators:
Sophomore Mitch D’Arrigo:
On racing against Dan Wallace and their relationship…                                                             
“Dan (Wallace) is one of the best athletes around right now. He’s pushed me really hard the whole year, as losing to him last year (D’Arrigo placed second to Wallace in the 500-yard freestyle at the 2014 SEC Championships) was really hard for me. Dan just really knows what to do and how to race. I just tried to stay with him throughout the race and it happened to end with me winning, which I am very happy about.”

On winning his first-career SEC title…                                                                                        
“I still haven’t realized it yet. I was very nervous coming into the race this year after what happened last year but I’m obviously really excited.”

Redshirt Freshman Theresa Michalak:
On winning her first-career SEC title and what it meant to have her teammates finish second and third behind her…
“I’m so happy that all three of us did it. It’s just great considering that all three of us swim together all the time and we went through so many things as a group. I think my time was pretty good because I won, but I’m just so happy that all three of us did so well.”

2015 SEC Championships Day 1 Team Standings

SEC Champions:

• Men’s 800 FR (Wallace, Werner, Alexiou, D’Arrigo – 6:12.85) – SEC & UF record
• Mitch D’Arrigo (500 Free – 4:10.77) – 2nd in UF history
• Theresa Michalak (200 IM – 1:56.09)  – 3rd in UF history

Day 2 – B & C Final Top-3 Finishers:

• Pawel Werner and Austin Manganiello each finished runner-up in the B and C Finals of the men’s 500-yard freestyle in times of 4:16.54 and 4:17.94, respectively.

NCAA Qualifiers:

Florida notched 10 NCAA automatic qualifying marks through the first two days of competition at the SEC Championships, including:

• Men’s 200 MR (Homer, Solaeche-Gomez, Main – 1:24.95)  – 4th in UF history
• Men’s 200 FR (Main, Dressel, Werner, Curby – 1:17.60) – 4th in UF history
• Men’s 800 FR (Wallace, Werner, Alexiou, D’Arrigo – 6:12.85) – SEC & UF record
• Mitch D’Arrigo – 500 Free (4:10.77) – 2nd in UF history
• Caeleb Dressel – 50 Free (18.89) – 2nd in UF history (prelims)
• Dan Wallace – 500 Free (4:13.61) – prelims
• Women’s 200 MR (Hinds, McKnight, Batchelor, Michalak – 1:37.12) – 5th in UF history
• Women’s 200 FR (Hinds, McKnight, Linn, Michalak – 1:29.43)
• Women’s 800 FR (Linn, Thielmann, Maughan – 7:00.25) – 5th in UF history
• Natalie Hinds – 50 Free (21.90) – prelims

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS FROM DAY 2 AT THE 2015 SEC SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Click here for a recap of day two’s prelims action.
Click here for a recap of day one’s finals action.
Click here for a recap of day one’s prelims action.

Follow the Gators:

For more information on the conference meet or tonight’s finals, check out the SEC Championships central web page here. Also, Gator fans are encouraged to follow the swimming and diving program via Twitter or Facebook.

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