Swimming Starts Strong at All-Florida Invite
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Miami Hurricanes opened their season with a strong showing on the opening day of the Pinch A Penny All Florida Invitational hosted by the University of Florida.
Head swimming coach Andy Kershaw was encouraged by the performance of his Hurricanes in their first test against outside competition this fall, which featured swimmers from four teams across the Sunshine State as well as Towson.
“I’m really proud of how we did things,” Kershaw said. “We were going into the meet with some parameters for each event, and the team really took ownership of that…I was very proud of that. We saw a lot of great discipline. They really set themselves up to have a great season.”
Angela Algee, who qualified for the U.S. Olympic trials during a strong summer of offseason training, delivered one of the top performances from the first day at the Stephen O’Connell Center.
Algee finished sixth in the 200 IM (2:07.40), fourth in the 50 freestyle (23.63) and helped key a fourth-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay. The junior also performed well in the butterfly during the 400 medley relay, where Miami’s top entry finished fifth.
“It was very early on in the season, but our times were still pretty good,” Kershaw said. “Certainly, I think Angela was definitely one of our high points tonight. She swam four events and was a leader in all of them.”
Another rising star who stood out Friday was sophomore Ksenia Yuskova. The Russia native, who joined the Hurricanes during the middle of her freshman season, took seventh in the 500 freestyle (4:58.49) and also swam on the 400 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay.
“Ksenia really stepped up big for us, being on two relays and the 500 free – she did a really good job there,” Kershaw said.
Junior transfer Christina Leander, who joined the Hurricanes after two seasons swimming at Tennessee, impressed in her debut. She finished eighth in the 200 IM (2:07.68), and also competed in the 400 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay.
“Christina in her first time swimming as a Cane was tremendous,” Kershaw said. “She had a really good IM, both times in the morning and night, and then tonight led off our medley relay with a great backstroke leg. That was great to see.”
Freshmen Sydney Story and Roxanne Yu also made their Hurricanes Friady night.
“As a team, I’m really proud of them as far as ownership they’re taking in the discipline of the swims and being determined to do it the right way at this point in the season, knowing that will lead to great things throughout the year,” Kershaw said.
The All Florida Invite continues Saturday from Gainesville.
