GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida Atlantic University’s men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams continued their weekend road trip in Gainesville to face the University of Florida Gators on Saturday, Jan. 18. The day was highlighted by first-place finishes in four events against UF’s third-ranked men’s team and eighth-ranked women’s team.
Matthieu Burtez completed the meet as the Owls’ top finisher recording two wins. Burtez hit the pad in 45.98 to claim victory in the 100 yard freestyle. Torbjorn Persson finished third for the event with a final time of 47.73. Burtez’s second win was in the 400 yard freestyle relay with teammates Rich Andrews, John Nolte and Persson. The team finished in 3:08.76. Also for the men’s team, Greg Cox finished first in the three meter dive with a score of 314.25. Cox finished second in the one meter dive with a score of 297.52 followed by Tyler Aycock who recorded a score of 274.50 for third-place.
Overall, FAU’s men’s team recorded 18 top-three finishes. In the 200 yard breastroke, Kameron Sipowski finished third with a final time of 59.72. Rich Andrews was FAU’s top finisher in the 500 yard freestyle clocking in at 4:48.45 for second-place. Andrews was followed by Tom O’Connor in third with a final time of 5:09.93. The Owls took second and third-place finishes in the 200 yard backstroke as well, with Alen Dervisevic in second (2:00.55) and Tucker Lewis (2:01.69) in third. The men’s team fell to UF with a final score of 123. The Gators recorded a final score of 166 on the day.
The women’s team collected a win in the 400 yard freestyle relay. The team consisted of Katie Dodge, Agi Bucz, Abbey King and Anett Kovacs who finished the event in 3:34.60. In the 200 yard butterfly, Kovacs finished second in 2:02.69 and Breanna Saukas followed clocking in at 2:13.86 for third. Kovacs also finished the 500 yard free in second-place with a final time of 5:02.60. FAU’s Abbey King followed in third-place recording a time of 5:08.68. In the 100 yard butterfly Bucz hit the pad second in 57.12 followed by Frida Nilsson in third. Iwona Lefanowicz tallied two second-place finishes in the 100 yard backstroke (57.92) and the 200 yard IM (2:12.35). The women’s team also fell to UF with a final score of 175-112.
FAU will host its final two meets of the regular season with FIU set to compete on Friday, Jan. 31 at 2 p.m. and a dual meet with Indian River and FGCU on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 11 a.m.