University of Tennessee Athletics
October 21, 2010 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Oct. 21, 2010
By Todd Mounce, Media Relations Graduate Assistant
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Behind three individual wins from freshman Lindsay Gendron, a pool record time in the 200y fly by sophomore Kelsey Floyd and the return of a familiar face at full strength, the Tennessee Lady Vol swimming and diving team rolled past Louisville, 186-113, Thursday evening at the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center.
The Big Orange may have had a little extra motivation this season against the Cardinals, as the team suffered a tough loss in last season's opener at Louisville by a mere four points. However, the Orange and White wouldn't let the BIG EAST opponent have a chance, winning 13 of the 16 events to improve to a perfect 2-0.
"I think it's natural in sports that when you get knocked down, you want to come back and stick it to the person that knocked you down," Lady Vol head swimming coach Matt Kredich explained. "That was painful last year. Our upperclassmen didn't forget and whatever they learned and carried over into today is great. But I don't want them spending time thinking about revenge because there are different people involved and we all have our own issues to worry about."
Tennessee (2-0 overall, 1-0 SEC) again got another huge performance from Gendron, who used NCAA B-cut times in winning the 200y (1:47.98) and 500y (4:51.47) free events. The Bloomington, Ill., native also captured the 1000y free with a time of 10:03.30, which was nearly 14 seconds faster than second place.
Fellow freshmen Alex Frasier, Lauren Solernou and Mary Kate McNeilis joined Gendron on the 400y free relay, nabbing the top spot in 3:26.35. McNeilis was fantastic in individual events as well, swimming a first-place time of 23.65 in the 50y free and barely edging Frasier in the 100y free by touching in at 51.10 to grab first.
In addition, Frasier had another runner-up finish in the 200y free (1:51.05), while Solernou notched second in the 100y back (55.92).
"I think there was a lot of good competing today and our freshmen continue to be really impressive," said Kredich. "I feel really good about the total picture and we still have a lot of loose ends we need to bring into the fold, but I thought it was a solid day."
Floyd, the reigning SEC Swimmer of the Week, set an AJIAC record in the 200y fly with a readout of 1:58.80. The first-place time was .16 seconds better than teammate Brooke Watson's old mark set last February.
Coming off of abdominal surgery on the first of this month, junior Jenny Connolly didn't miss a beat in her 2010-11 season debut. The West Lafayette, Ind., native swam NCAA Zone-B cut times in the 100y back (54.61) and 100y fly (54.47) to win both events, while also swimming the lead leg on the victorious 200y medley relay (1:41.41).
Along with Connolly on the winning 200y medley relay were senior Martina Moravcikova, Floyd and McNeilis. Moravcikova also finished first in the 100y breast after touching in at 1:03.09.
On the boards, redshirt freshman Tori Lamp had a repeat performance of last week, taking the top spots on both the 1- and 3-meter boards. On the 3-meter, Lamp beat out Louisville's Hannah Gadd, who won the event last season, with a score of 324.75. Junior Gabrielle Trudeau made it a one-two finish for the Lady Vols on 1-meter, as Lamp nabbed first with a score of 292.58, with Trudeau`s score of 292.58 right behind.
"Tori scored higher on both boards today, against tougher competition, and what made it even more impressive was the fact that during practice yesterday she hurt her shoulder and we weren't sure if she would be cleared to dive today," head coach diving coach Dave Parrington said. "We weren't in a clutch situation like we were last week, but when you are up there competing against quality competition it doesn't really matter. We came through today and I'm pleased where we are at."
For the Cardinals, Eszter Povazsay, Therese Bergstrom and Fanny Lilliestrom notched victories. Povazsay touched in .01 second faster than Floyd to win the 200y back, Bergstrom took the top spot in the 200y breast (2:16.94) and Lilliestrom won the 200y IM (2:04.76).
The Lady Vols will hit the road for the first time this season when it travels to "The Bluegrass State" to face off against the Cumberlands on Friday, Oct. 29, and SEC foe Kentucky the next day.
