Gators Do Well on Day One of SEC Swimming Championships

The SEC Swimming and Diving Championships are underway at Texas A&M and the first day of competition saw some great outings from Florida swimmers.  However, the men’s one meter and women’s three meter dive events started the event at preliminaries. No Florida divers made finals on the first day of competition.  But better things were to come.

Breaking records

Swimming’s first events of the week were the 200 medley relays and the 800 freestyle relays. The Gators came second in the women’s 200 relay behind Alabama.

Adding to their silver title, the women also broke the school record with a time of 1:34.76. Aris Runnels led relay followed by Nina Kucheran and Olivia Peoples with Katie Mack anchoring.

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Likewise, the men’s team earned a silver medal for their 200 medley relay. Adam Chaney, Aleksas Savickas, Eric Friese and Josh Liendo swam the second-fastest time in school history at 1:21.73.

Following the record breaking swims, Florida won its first gold medal in the women’s 800 freestyle relay. Swimming a 6:57.11 for the title, Ekaterina Nikonova, Talia Bates, Emma Weyant and Micayla Cronk beat Tennessee by a little over a second.

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The men’s 800 freestyle relay joined the women on the podium earning themselves the gold as well. Macguire McDuff, Julian Smith, Alfonso Mestre and Jake Mitchell were almost four seconds ahead of the field, finishing with a time of 6:08.64.

Next up, session three preliminaries start with the women’s 500 freestyle. Gator Mabel Zavaros is seeded first with Tylor Mathieu close behind.