Caeleb Dressel became the first of the thirty current and former Florida Gators participating in the 2016 Rio Olympics to earn a medal.
Dressel, a UF junior, was apart of the USA men’s 4X100M freestyle relay team with Michael Phelps, Ryan Held, and Nathan Adrian. The USA team finished in 3:09.92, more than a half-second better than the French team to earn the Olympic gold.
Also:
Former Gator Conor Dwyer has advanced to the finals in the 200M freestlye event. Dwyer won heat 6 of the preliminaries with a time of 1:45.95. He qualified for the semis in the fourth position.
In the semis Dwyer did not disappoint. In semifinal number one Dwyer again finished first with a time of 1:45.55. This time was good for third and a berth in the finals Monday night.
Former Gator Hilda Luthersdottir competed in the 100M breaststroke also qualifying for the finals on Monday night.
Lutherdottir finished fourth in heat six of the preliminaries but qualified for the semifinals with the ninth fastest overall time.
In the second semifinal Luthersdottir finished fifth with a time of 1:06.71 and qualified for the finals as the seventh fastest time.
Looking ahead:
On Monday, five current or former Gators will compete in the Olympics in Rio, as well as those that qualified for Monday’s finals (see above).
200M Free W Swimming:
Melani Costa Schmid / SPA / 12:02PM (Heat 5)
200M Fly M Swimming:
Sebastien Rousseau / RSA / 12:34PM (Heat 4)
Jan Switkowski / POL / 12:34PM (Heat 4)
Volleyball:
Kelly Murphy / USA / 2:00PM / vs Netherlands
Aury Cruz / PR / 4:05PM / vs Serbia
200M Free FINAL M Swimming:
Conor Dwyer / USA / 9:21PM
100M Breast FINAL W Swimming:
Hilda Luthersdottir / ICE / 9:54PM
Stay tuned for more coverage of the Gators in Rio.