Florida Men’s, Women’s Swim & Dive Secure Silver At SEC Championships

The Florida men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams finished second at the SEC Swimming & Diving Championships, snapping the men’s 12-year winning streak and the women’s two-year title run. 

After back-to-back combined conference victories, both teams’ hopes of extending their streak with a third straight title sweep were crushed.

Throughout the six days of competition inside the University of Georgia’s Gabrielsen Natatorium, the Gators secured 29 medals, 15 of which were gold.

Florida broke 46 records, including two NCAA, 13 program, 11 SEC Meet, 11 pool, six SEC, two US Open and one American.

Gators Dominate Night Five 

On Friday, the Gators ended night five by capturing gold in the final five swimming events and setting two NCAA records. In total, UF captured seven medals and updated eight program top-10 times. 

UF senior Julian Smith played a role in both NCAA records broken when he recorded his second individual title of the week in the 100 breaststroke. His 49.51 time broke the previous record set at last year’s NCAA Championships by two-hundredths of a second. 

AMERICAN RECORD SECURED

🔶Julian Smith secures gold in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 49.51

📺SECN#GoGators pic.twitter.com/oxXf7rQOyg

— Gators Swimming & Diving (@GatorsSwimDv) February 21, 2025

Smith became the 13th Gator to win the 100 breaststroke and marked Florida’s third straight gold.

Smith also joined sophomore Jonny Marshall, junior Josh Liendo and freshman Alexander Painter on the men’s 400 medley relay team, beating the NCAA record by 1.66 seconds. Their 2:55.66 time also set a SEC, SEC meet, NCAA and US Open records. 

Meanwhile, the women’s 400 medley relay team, consisting of sophomore Bella Sims, freshman Anita Bottazzo, senior Olivia Peoples senior and Micayla Cronk, earned the Gators’ first title since 2005. The four’s time of 3:24.78 set a program and SEC meet record.

Sims’ leadoff 48.97 back split time was the fastest in the country this season. 

“I learned to love the 100 backstroke as soon I got to college,” Sims said. “The underwaters are always in my favor, the shorter the event the more of them I can do.”

UF swept the individual 100 back final for the second consecutive year. Sims and Marshall both hold the program, SEC meet and pool record. 

Marshall scored 43.73 to defend his title and set the fastest time in the NCAA this year and the seventh-fastest time in NCAA history.

Bottazzo and junior Aleksas Savickas earned Florida two bronze medals in the 100 breast. 

With one day left of competition, the men were in second place, sitting 162 points away from first, while the women exchanged second place with Tennessee at 20 points behind the Lady Vols in third.

Florida Secures Second Place and Top Honors

Florida men’s final team score was 1325, falling short of Texas’s 1474.5. The women’s final team score was 1179, compared to Texas’s 1450. 

Texas, the defending Big 12 champion, recently joined the SEC after securing 12 straight league titles. The Longhorns prevented the Gators’ men’s swim and dive from gold for the first time since 2013.

Smith was named the SEC Men’s Swimmer of the Meet, while sophomore Camyla Monroy earned SEC Women’s Diver of the Meet.

Several Gators on the men’s side won two event titles, with Smith, Liendo and Marshall each winning two individual gold medals. As for the women, Sims led with two gold in both backstroke events, while Monroy won the first event of the week in the 1-Meter diving. Senior Emma Weyant also defended her title in the 400 IM for the third consecutive year.

BACKSTROKE QUEEN👑

🔶 @arabellagsims earns gold in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:48.28

📺SECN+#GoGators pic.twitter.com/WfyvxriaSS

— Gators Swimming & Diving (@GatorsSwimDv) February 22, 2025

Florida Racks Up 29 Medals in Championship Run

Gold Medals:

1. Camyla Monroy – Women’s 1-meter diving
2. Alexander Painter, Josh Liendo, Julian Smith, Jake Mitchell – Men’s 800 free relay 
3. Julian Smith – 200 IM
4. Emma Weyant – 400 IM
5. Josh Liendo – 100 butterfly
6. Conor Gesing – Men’s 1-meter diving
7. Bella Sims 100 backstroke
8. Jonny Marshall – 100 backstroke
9. Julian Smith – 100 breaststroke
10. Bella Sims, Anita Bottazzo, Olivia Peoples, Micayla Cronk – Women’s 400 medley relay
11. Jonny Marshall, Julian Smith, Josh Liendo, Alex Painter – Men’s 400 medley relay
12. Bella Sims – 200 Backstroke
13. Jonny Marshall – 200 Backstroke
14. Josh Liendo – 100 Freestyle
15. Aleksas Savickas – 200 Breaststroke

Silver Medals:

1. Conor Gesing – Men’s 3-meter diving
2. Jonny Marshall, Julian Smith, Scotty Buff, Ed Fullum-Huot – Men’s 200 medley relay 
3. Josh Liendo, Alexander Painter, Ed Fullum-Huot, Scotty Buff – Men’s 200 free relay
4. Josh Liendo – 50 freestyle
5. Olivia Peoples – 100 butterfly
6. J. Liendo, J. Smith, A. Painter, S. Buff – 400 Free Relay

Bronze Medals:

1. Catie Choate, Anita Bottazzo, Olivia Peoples, Micayla Cronk – Women’s 200 medley relay
2. Julie Brousseau, Bella Sims, Emma Weyant, Micayla Cronk – Women’s 800 free relay
3. Julie Brousseau – 500 freestyle
4. Bella Sims – 200 IM
5. Scotty Buff – 100 butterfly
6. Anita Bottazzo – 100 breaststroke
7. Jesus Gonzalez – Platform
8. B. Sims, A. Reese, L. Kruger, M. Cronk – 400 Free Relay

Up Next

UF’s men’s and women’s swimming and diving hosts the Florida Invitational on Thursday and Friday.