Tuscaloosa, Ala. - The University of Florida men's and women's swimming and diving teams opened the 2000-2001 regular season with a dual meet at SEC foe Alabama on Saturday at the Alabama Aquatics Center. The women's team came away with its first dual meet victory of the season by a score of 136-102, while the men were defeated by a final count of 110-127.

The women's team won nine of the 13 events that the teams competed in. The team had first place finishes in seven events. The team of Cara Teague, Cerian Gibbes, Natalie Nickson and Rebekah Olsen came in first in the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3:52.42. Olsen also came in first in the 200-yard freestyle, finishing with a time of 1:49.74 and the 500-yard freestyle, touching the wall in 4:57.87; Sara McLarty finished first in the 1650-yard freestyle, touching the wall in 16:41.73; Jaime Ellis swam the top time in the 400-yard individual medley at 4:23.82; Nickson finished in the top spot in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:04.39; Leah Martindale finished first in the 100-yard freestyle, finishing the race in 52.27,

On the men's side, the team won six events. The Gators had top finishers in five races throughout the meet. The 400-yard freestyle relay team of Jim Kostowicz, Hendrick Odendaal, Ricardo Molari and Adrian Cameron came in first in the event, finishing in 3:09.05; Ricardo Monasterio came in first in the 1650-yard freestyle, touching the wall in 15:18.85 and the 500-yard free, with a time of 4:27.78; Bryan Kim had the fastest time in the 200-yard butterfly at 1:49.65; Chris Kellam came in first in the 200-yard backstroke, touching the wall in 1:52.17

In the diving competitions, Hank Richardson finished in first place in both the one-meter and three-meter events, with a score of 189.55 in the one-meter and 366.60 in the three-meter. In the women's diving competition, Robyn Grimes won both the one and three-meter events, with scores of 175.05 in the one-meter and 338.45 in the three-meter.

The women's team is now 1-0 with the win, while the men are 0-1 with the loss. Both teams will be back in action on Friday, October 27, when they travel to Knoxville, Tenn. For the SEC East Challenge hosted by the University of Tennessee.