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The NCAA Swimming and Diving Championship is underway and the SEC Champion Florida Gators are off to a flying start. Through the first day of competition, the Gators are second place behind Texas.
Florida Men’s Swimming and Diving success
The Gators have had plenty of success in the last year, including at the international level. Florida has dominated other NCAA teams, SEC teams, and other countries.
Five current Gator swimmers went to the Olympics in Tokyo including Kieran Smith and Bobby Finke who both medaled with a bronze and a gold, respectively.
SEC Champions
The Gators have controlled the SEC championship for much of the program’s history. The team won their 10th straight SEC Championship in February. The Gators won the SEC by a margin of just under 500 points over Tennessee and Alabama who tied for second place.
Looking for the national title
Despite Florida’s dynasty in the SEC, they have not seen the same success at the NCAA level. Currently second place after Day One of competition, the Gators are looking to capture their first national title since 1984. The University of Texas leads the competition after the first day and they look to defend their championship. They have won five of the last six championships.
In Wednesday’s action, the Gators won the 200 yard medley relay and broke the NCAA record. The four Gators participating in that event were Adam Chaney, Dillon Hillis, Eric Friese, and Will Davis.
https://twitter.com/GatorsSwimDv/status/1506803216264093698
The Gators also finished seventh in the 800 yard freestyle relay. They finished just over five seconds behind Texas who came in first in the event.
Day Three of competition will have five events – 500 yard freestyle, 200 yard individual medley, 50 yard freestyle, 1-meter diving, and the 200 yard freestyle final.
The diving prelims will take place at 12:30 p.m. Finals are set to start at 6 p.m.
https://twitter.com/GatorsSwimDv/status/1507013520109432837
