Florida Fetes 9 Seniors With Senior Day Sweep of LSU
The University of Florida celebrated its nine seniors with a pair of wins over LSU on Friday.
The men’s team claimed a 156-105 win. The women prevailed 174-87. Each meet included swimming events only.
The Gators honored nine senior swimmers, with the men’s seniors figuring prominently into the victory.
Aleksas Savickas did the breaststroke double. His 100 breaststroke win was a thriller, the Lithuanian going 54.52 to edge teammate Koen de Groot by .01 seconds. He was also .03 up on LSU’s Volodymyr Lisovets. His win in the 200 breast was more straightforward with a time of 1:59.19.
Giovanni Linscheer did the distance double, winning the 1,000 freestyle in 9:07.30. In the 500, he went 4:24.76 to outrace classmate Eric Brown by .21 seconds. Brown won the 200 free in 1:38.10 and the 200 individual medley in 1:48.57. (The last came .13 seconds ahead of teammate Aiden Norman, who won the 200 backstroke in 1:44.15 and was second in the 100 back.)
Josh Liendo added a win in the 100 butterfly with a time of 46.38. The 200 free relay squad of Alex Painter, Devin Dilger, Scotty Buff and Liendo (19.02) posted the fastest time at 1:19.59 in an exhibitioned relay.
The men’s meet started with a showdown in the 200 medley relay, won by LSU in 1:25.63, .45 up on the Gators. Stepan Goncharov, Lisovets, Diggory Dillingham and Jere Hribar (18.51) comprised that squad.
Hribar got the better of Liendo in the 50 free, going 19.41 to the Canadian Olympian’s 19.58, and the Croatian international also went 42.56 to win the 100 free.
Goncharov won the 100 back in 46.92. Stuart Higdon claimed the 200 fly in 1:47.99 ahead of teammate Caleb Ellis, who was also second in the 100 fly with Higdon third.
Florida’s women’s team set the tone with the opening 200 medley relay. Catie Choate, Anita Bottazzo, Beatriz Bezerra and Addison Reese went 1:38.79 to win by more than two seconds.
Choate won two backstroke events, going 52.76 in the 100 and 1:54.52 to hit an NCAA cut in the 200. Bottazzo was also under the NCAA cut in a win in the 100 breast in 59.35. (Second was Molly Mayne, who won the 200 breast.) Addison Reese went 1:59.75 to win the 200 fly before finishing second in the 100 free. Bezerra was second in the 50 free and 100 fly.
Julie Brousseau won the 500 free and the 1,000 free. She was second to teammate Grace Rabb in the 200 IM. Lainy Kruger won the 200 free in 1:48.60, claimed the 100 fly in 54.71 by .05 over Bezerra and finished second in the 200 fly to Reese.
Michaela De Villiers did the sprint double for LSU. The South African won the 50 free in 22.85 and the 100 free in 50.50. She also helped the Tigers to their third win with a leg in the 200 free relay.
