SEC records fall, UA's Fleshner takes second on 1-meter dive

TUSCALOOSA | Fueled by orange slices, bananas and Gatorade, SEC swimmers attacked conference records Thursday night with the same ferocity they attacked the pool on day two of the SEC Swimming and Diving Championships at the Alabama Aquatic Center.

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The Don Gambril Olympic Pool lived up to its reputation as one of the fastest in the nation with three SEC records falling.

University of Florida's Caroline Burckle swam the second-fastest time in collegiate history and set a new SEC mark while taking first place in the women's 500 freestyle with a time of 4:34.87. Burckle finished more than five seconds ahead of Auburn's Maggie Byrd, who swam a 4:40.72. Burckle's swim was the fourth fastest in U.S. history.

'Coming in I just tried not to think about it too much and just try to go in with a positive attitude and see what I can do,' Burckle said of her pre-race strategy. 'I guess I knew I could do it deep down, but I wasn't sure. You just have to believe in yourself, and I guess anything can happen.'

As Burckle made her final turn she said she heard the Florida crowd urging her on but was amazed after she touched the wall for the final time and looked up at her record-setting time.

'Wow. I had no idea I had went that fast at all. Like not even close.'

Alabama's Aaron Fleshner finished second in the 1-meter dive with a point total of 342.50 after winning the 3-meter on Wednesday.

'It's getting more exciting as the days go on,' Fleshner said of his two-day performance.

Fleshner will compete in today's 10-meter platform dive.

Sebastian Rouault from Georgia won the men's 500 freestyle for the fourth consecutive year. His time of 4:13.75 was almost five seconds better than his preliminary time. Rouault became the first men's swimmer in SEC history to win the 500 freestyle four years in a row.

Auburn's Ava Ohlgren took down another SEC record in the women's 200 Individual Medley swimming a 1:54.97.

Her teammate Cesar Cielo then proceeded to set the third SEC record of the night when he swam a blazing 18.91 in the men's 50 freestyle. It was the third time he has broken 19 seconds in the event -- more times than anyone in history. After he touched the wall fans and teammates' shouts of 'it's great to be an Auburn Tiger' rang throughout the aquatic center.

'I was kind of expecting to go fast but not under 19,' Cielo said. 'I had a great weekend in Missouri [in his last event] so I was expecting to be tired here, but the 18.9 tonight just completely changed my mind.

'It feels great. It's like making history pretty much. It was one of the things I had in my mind, but I didn't think I was really going to do it.'

Auburn leads the men's team competition with 322 points. Florida is second with 233 and Tennessee is third with 208. Alabama is seventh with 140.

Florida sits atop the women's team competition with 272 points and Auburn is in second with 230. Tennessee is third with 200.5 and Alabama is ninth with 98.

Alabama coach Eric McIlquham said he has been pleased with his team's effort.

'Two days in, we're doing life-time bests across the board,' McIlquham said. 'Kids are swimming faster than they've ever swam before in their lives. The fastest meet in SEC history is going on right now, and we're a big part of that.'

The meet continues today with preliminaries beginning at 10 a.m. and finals starting at 6 p.m.