Florida Swimming and Diving Sit in Sixth and Seventh in SEC Day Two

After day one of the 2022 Southeastern Conference (SEC) Swimming and Diving Championships, the Florida Gators men and women sit in sixth and seventh place.

Day 1 ✅#GoGators pic.twitter.com/PNbtcKmsof

— Gators Swimming & Diving (@GatorsSwimDv) February 16, 2022

Men’s Recap

The orange and blue, captained by Olympian Kieran Smith, reached the podium Tuesday.

With the nation’s fastest time of the season and set a new SEC meet record, Adam Chaney, Dillon Hillis, Eric Friese and Alberto Mestre dominated the men’s 200-yard medley relay. The swift 1:22.06 time earned the Gators the top spot on the podium.

Friese said the victory felt amazing, as it was the first time they got to compete in the championships with fans present.

“Our group dynamic is insane right now,” he said. “I loved the energy, and I loved the dynamic of the relay, it was great.”

In a similar fashion, Smith, Trey Freeman, Oskar Lindholm and Mestre swam to first place in the men’s 800-yard freestyle relay. The 6:08.00 time topped the previous conference record by more than one second, securing the nation’s fastest time.

https://twitter.com/GatorsSwimDv/status/1493747130326032385?s=20&t=VJt3JrDmTNt8svrw6zdzyg

Smith said and emphasized that the wins were great.

“We knew we had a really good set of relays to start off the meet with the 200-medley relay and 800, and we delivered, obviously,” he said. “A win in both of those, a perfect way to start the meet.”

On the 3-meter springboard, Leonardo Garcia opened up the competition’s scoring for UF with a 20th-place finish. Anton Svirskyi trailed closely behind, placing 26th.

After the conclusion of day one, Florida’s men sit in sixth place with 133 points.

Women’s Recap

The women’s 800-free relay consisting of Talia Bates, Ekaterina Nikonova, Micayla Cronk and Nikki Miller captured fourth place. With a time of  7:01.77, the Gators captured an NCAA B cut and improved their seed time by almost seven seconds. Katelyn Mack, Tylor Mathieu, Olivia Peoples and Cronk placed 10th in the women’s 200-yard medley relay.

Five women competed on the 1-meter springboard. Maha Amer recorded the highest score with a zone qualifying score of 266.80, earning a 10th-place finish. Elettra Neroni finished 15th, Carina Lumia finished 17th, Elizabeth Perez finished 19th and Lauren Snider finished in 28th.

Ahead of day two, the Gator women sit in seventh place with 130 points.

What’s Next in the SEC?

Day two action kicked off at 9:30 a.m. in Knoxville, Tennessee, with the first UF team member hitting the pool at noon.