DMN Swim Meet - First Day

[Water Pony]

Olympian helps Gators win three DMN swim events
Lochte wins two individual races; Cal leads after first day

02:12 AM CST on Saturday, January 15, 2005
By CHUCK CARLTON / The Dallas Morning News

UNIVERSITY PARK - The spotlight was on Ryan Lochte entering The Dallas
Morning News Swimming and Diving Classic. Nothing changed after his performance Friday at Perkins Natatorium.

The Florida junior overpowered a quality field, winning the 400-yard
individual medley (3:48.13) and the 100 backstroke (47.66). He also anchored Florida's 800 freestyle relay team to a pool and meet record of 6:34.14. Lochte, a two-time Olympic medalist in Athens, could be on his way to earning high-point swimmer honors in the meet for the second consecutive year.

He will also be the favorite in today's 200 IM, an event that brought him a
silver medal in Athens. Lochte won gold as a member of the U.S. 800-meter freestyle relay.

Lochte dismissed any raised expectations because of the Olympic performance. "I'm kind of one of those guys who hardly never feels pressure," Lochte said. "I just swim. I just race. No pressure."

No. 4 California leading No. 2 Florida
California, ranked fourth nationally, and No. 2 Florida were fighting for
the overall meet lead. Cal leads, 182-158. Host SMU was third, ahead of
three teams that have been ranked in the top 25.

SMU's Becerra takes two seconds
A few hundredths of a second faster and SMU senior Camilo Becerra would have been celebrating two wins.

He settled for two narrow runner-up finishes, both to California's Duje
Draganja, a native of Croatia. Draganja edged Becerra by .05 seconds in the 50 freestyle. The margin was .01 in the 100 butterfly.

Becerra had some consolation. Draganja was the silver medalist in the 50
freestyle in Athens. "One-hundreth of a second. That's nothing when you really think about it," said Becerra, who was happy with his times and performance against the swimmer who is six inches taller. "It comes down to a little luck. He's taller than me and has a better extension."

6-10 Lithuanian likes pool better than hoops. Somehow Cal's Rolandas Gimbutis got away from coaches in his basketball crazy homeland of Lithuania. The 6-10 Gimbutis, who has been swimming since he was 6, won the 200-yard freestyle and narrowly missed a pool record.

TODAY'S SCHEDULE

(Events start at 7:30 p.m. at SMU's Perkins Natatorium)

400 freestyle relay, 500 freestyle, 200 backstroke, 200 breaststroke,
3-meter diving, 100 freestyle, 200 butterfly, 200 individual medley, 200
freestyle relay.

FRIDAY'S RESULTS

(At Perkins Natatorium, SMU)

MEN'S TEAM STANDINGS

1. California-Berkley, 182
2. Florida, 158
3. SMU, 145
4. Arizona State, 126
5. Florida State, 115
6. Texas A&M, 111

400 MEDLEY RELAY
1. UC-Berkley (Cavic, Rowe, Draganja, Gimbutis), 3:16.11
2. SMU, 3:20.07
3. Florida, 3:22.21
4. Florida State, 3:22.64

400 IM
1. Ryan Lochte, Florida, 3:48.13
2. Ian Clark, SMU, 3:54.13
3. John Dorr, UC-Berkley, 3:54.86
4. C.J. Nuess, Arizona St, 3:56.72

200 FREESTYLE
1. Rolandas Gimbutis, UC-Berkley, 1:37.48
2. Jeff Barrett, Arizona St, 1:39.48
3. Adam Sioui, Florida, 1:39.72
4. Ferdi Potsma, SMU, 1:39.77

50 FREESTYLE
1. Duje Draganja, UC-Berkley, 20.33
2. Camilo Becerra, SMU, 20.38
3. Richie Crowder, Arizona St, 20.91
4. Darian Townsend, Florida, 21.02

ONE METER DIVING
1. Zach Wilcox, Florida, 319.40
2. Philip Griffin, SMU, 307.95
3. Eric Sehn, Texas A&M, 306.75
4. Alex Tilbrook, Florida St, 276.25

100 BUTTERFLY
1. Duje Draganja, UC-Berkley, 47.88
2. Camilo Becerra, SMU, 47.89
3. David Kolozar, Arizona St, 50.52
4. Darian Townsend, Florida, 50.73

100 BACKSTROKE
1. Ryan Lochte, Florida, 47.66
2. Milorad Cavic, UC-Berkley, 48.40
3. Ian Clark, SMU, 50.32
4. Dan Blanchard, Texas A&M, 51.40

100 BREASTSTROKE
1. Caleb Rowe, UC-Berkley, 56.06
2. Emerson Ward, Arizona St, 56.19
3. Per Nylin, SMU, 56.34
4. Billy Jamerson, Florida St, 56.68

800 FREESTYLE RELAY
1. Florida (Townsend, Sioui, Hartley, Lochte), 6:34.14
2. California-Berkley, 6:37.23
3. Arizona State, 6:42.74
4. SMU, 6:45.34

[Water Pony]

800 FREESTYLE RELAY
1. Florida (Townsend, Sioui, Hartley, Lochte), 6:34.14
2. California-Berkley, 6:37.23
3. Arizona State, 6:42.74
4. SMU, 6:45.34