Category: Men’s Swimming & Diving

Florida swimming earns 200-meter medley relay national title on opening day

The Gators men’s swimmers are once again among the best in the business when it comes to aquatic sports.

The Florida men’s swimming program came away with two top-five finishes in the 200-meter medley relay and the 800-meter freestyle relay inside the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Wednesday night en route to a 200-meter medley relay national title on opening day.

Adam Chaney, Julian Smith, Josh Liendo and Macguire McDuff set a new NCAA championship meet and program record in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:20.15 seconds to claim the crown. The second-seeded Gators got off to a strong start off the block with Chaney’s 20.29 backstroke split against the No. 1 seed Arizona State Sun Devils, as well as the NC State Wolfpack and California Golden Bears.

Smith’s 22.55 breaststroke time kept the Orange and Blue in the thick of things, giving Liendo the seam to the top spot with his 18.97 in the 50 butterfly swim.; McDuff brought Florida across the finish line with a 50 free time of 18.34.

Jake Mitchell swam a 1:30.89 as the anchor in the 800-meter freestyle event to boost his team from sixth to third place in the final heat with a flat 6:08.00. Florida earned fourth place overall and its final heat time ties the program’s second-best ever which was set in 2022.

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Gators swimmer sets record at Phillips 66 National Championships

Florida swimmer Bobby Finke earned a significant achievement on the opening night of the Phillips 66 Championships on Tuesday.

Florida swimmer Bobby Finke earned a significant achievement on the opening night of the Phillips 66 Championships on Tuesday. The senior from Clearwater, Florida, set the U.S. Open and Championship records with his 1500m freestyle time of 14:42.81 — the fifth-fastest in the world this season.

It was also eight seconds faster than any of his competitors.

Additionally, Finke — along with his female colleague, Katie Ledecky — earned a national title. Ledecky, who is currently volunteering as a coach with the Gators while she trains under head coach Anthony Nesty, swam her third-fastest 800m free time ever (and fastest since 2016) with an 8:07.07 final time.

Like Finke, the former Olympian also blew the competition out of the water, winning her event by a 13-second margin.

Other results include Mason Laur’s career-best 1:55.67 in the 200m butterfly and Macguire McDuff’s personal-best 48.24 in the 100m free for the men. On the women’s side, incoming freshman Bella Sims placed seventh with a 53.73 giving her a new personal best.

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Former Gator, Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte auctioning off six medals

Ryan Lochte took home plenty of medals after competing in four Olympic Games, and now he’s ready to let a few of them go (for some cash, of course).

Behind Michael Phelps, [autotag]Ryan Lochte[/autotag] is the most decorated swimmer in Olympic history with 12 medals (six gold, three silver and three bronze). Six of those, the bronze and silver ones, are up for auction, according to the Associated Press.

This is no money-making grab, though. Lochte gave the medals to a third party and everything earned goes “straight to the charity.” The medals are being sold in three lots by RR Auction in Boston and bidding ends July 21. The charity selected is the Jorge Nation Foundation.

The first lot contains a silver medal, Lochte’s first individual Olympic medal, from the 200-meter individual medley at the 2004 Athens Games. Its estimated value is $10,000 or more.

Lot No. 2 is a pair of bronze medals from the 2008 Beijing Games where Lochte placed third in the 200 IM and 400 IM. The estimated value is $12,000 or more.

The third lot is valued at $60,000 or more and contains three medals from the 2012 London Games, two silvers (200 IM and 4×100 freestyle relay) and a bronze (200 backstroke). Also for sale is a 14k white gold Olympic ring and a Breitling watch with black diamonds that Lochte bought for himself after the London Games.

When asked why he was parting ways with the medals, Lochte admitted that they weren’t of much personal value to him.

“I’m not one to be all sentimental about medals,” Lochte told The Associated Press. “My medals are just sitting in my closet collecting dust. The memories that I have is what means the most.”

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Weekly schedule for Florida Gators sports starting March 21

Take a look at how the week of March 21 through March 27 lines up for the Florida Gators. 

The men’s and women’s basketball teams saw their seasons come to an end this weekend with losses in the National Invitation Tournament and the NCAA Tournament, respectively, but Florida athletics will still continue on. Highlighted by an SEC Championship title earned by the gymnastics team to go with its regular-season conference crown, there is still plenty for the Gator Nation to get excited about as the spring season continues to unfurl.

Over the coming week, ten sports programs will compete for the glory of the Orange and Blue, including the men’s swimming and diving team, which is heading to the NCAA Championships starting on Wednesday. The track and field team will also be busy, splitting in half to take part in two outdoor tournaments also starting in the middle of the week.

The baseball, softball, volleyball and lacrosse teams continue their seasons, while the men’s and women’s tennis teams engage in dual meets, and the men’s and women’s golf teams see some tournament action as well. Here’s a look below at how the week of March 21 through March 27 lines up for the Florida Gators.