University of Tennessee Athletics
Connolly Wins Three Golds on Day Three of SECs
February 19, 2011 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Feb. 18, 2011
By Todd Mounce, Media Relations Graduate Assistant
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Day three of the Southeastern Conference Swimming Championships was filled with unbelievable performances by the Tennessee Lady Vol swimming team, but Friday evening will be a day junior Jenny Connolly won't soon forget as she won three SEC gold medals at the conference meet held at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
Having a day for the ages, the West Lafayette, Ind., native notched individual victories in the 100y fly and 100y back and swam the lead leg of the SEC record setting 400y medley relay.
A 10-time All American, Connolly began the evening finals with an impressive come-from-behind win in the 100y fly. With Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace of Auburn, the league's defending champion in the event just one lane over to her left, Connolly found herself behind after 50y yards but surpassed Vanderpool-Wallace and the 75y mark and didn't look back.
Her NCAA automatic qualifying clocking of 51.64 seconds is a career best and ranks as the seventh-fastest time in UT history.
Two events later, Connolly was back in the water for her signature event, the 100y back. Though the event didn't have the same amount of excitement at the finish line as her win in the fly did, she sped past the competition to touch in at 51.39 seconds.
The mark is another NCAA A-cut time and is the top time in the country. The clocking also is the second fastest in Lady Vol history, only behind her own time of 51.34 seconds she swam at the league meet in 2009.
In a total team domination, the 400y medley quartet of Connolly, senior Martina Moravcikova, sophomore Kelsey Floyd and freshman Lindsay Gendron set a new SEC standard in the event with a time of 3:30.90.
The relay squad also shattered the previous best school record by just under 2 seconds, set at the NCAA Championships at Texas A&M two years ago. Connolly got the team out to an early lead in the lead leg and outstanding swims by the other three gave UT enough room to never be threatened.
"The SEC record in the relay was four fantastic swims," Lady Vol Head Swimming Matt Kredich said. "I don't know how many people have won three SEC Championships, two individual and a relay in one night, but not many. Jenny Connolly really put herself into elite company with those performances."
"It has been such a great day for our team," Connolly said. "I'm pretty much speechless. I'm so proud to be a part of Tennessee and this team. We have just been doing phenomenal."
Connolly's success was just the beginning of the tremendous accomplishments the Big Orange would achieve on the night.
Moravcikova and Gendron each notched bronze medals in their respective events, the 100y breast and 200y free. In the 100y breast, Moravcikova earned her place of the podium after swimming a time of 1:00.04, which ranks as the seventh fastest Lady Vol mark.
In the preliminary rounds in the morning, Moravcikova secured herself a spot in the NCAA Championships, clocking an NCAA A-cut time of 59.78.
Gendron continues to shine in her first season donning an Orange and White swim cap. The Bloomington, Ill., native's third-place and career-best time of 1:44.27 ranks third in the Tennessee record books.
She was already a member of the 800y free relay squad that finished third on day one of the Championships.
Not to be outdone, senior Aleksa Akerfelds improved on her already school record mark in the 400y IM. Breaking her previous best record by over two seconds, the Bronxville, N.Y., product claimed second in the `B' final and 10th overall after touching in at 4:10.69.
She surged in the last 200 yards of the event, swimming the fastest breaststroke split times, to get back in contention.
Other notable performances included Floyd taking seventh in the 100y fly championship final with a clocking of 52.34, junior Kirstyn Colonias notching 14th in the 100y breast with a time of 1:02.23, freshman Mary Kate McNeilis and senior Tricia Weaner earning third and fourth in the 100y back consolation final and freshman Lauren Solernou ranking second on UT's performers list after finishing sixth overall in the backstroke after a mark of 53.25.
"We were really competitive, really aggressive and that is the way we race," Kredich said. "The way we got into the finals was a result of attitude and execution."
The Lady Vols will head into the final day of completion in fourth place with 314.5 points. Georgia is out in front with a score of 515, while Florida is in second (463) and Auburn in third (425).
Saturday morning prelims will begin at 10 a.m. with the finals set to begin at 6 p.m. Day four will feature the 200y back, 100y free, 200y breast, 200y fly, 400y free relay and the 1650y free.
Live video and stats can be found at UTLadyVols.com.
Follow all of the action on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TennLVSwim.
