Florida women’s swimming and diving earn wins to start off the season

Florida Gators swim team opened the 2023 season with a victory over the Vanderbilt Commodores.

The Florida women’s swimming and diving team is off to a great start after earning its first victory of the year in the season opener.

Florida out-swam the Vanderbilt Commodores, 180-75, up north in Nashville, Tennessee, while the dive team made its debut in Coral Gables to take on the Miami Hurricanes.

The Gators were victorious in every event against Vandy and were led by freshman Bella Sims and senior Isabel Ivey. Both swimmers made their debuts for the Orange and Blue, finishing in first place during three of their own events.

Ivey, a California transfer, took the top spot in the 200-meter freestyle with a time of 1:47.44, followed by a win in the 50-meter freestyle and 200-meter IM.

Sims finished in the top spot in the 100-meter backstroke, freestyle and butterfly. The Olympic silver medalist led off the Gators in the 200-meter medley relay, which also swam her to the top of the podium.

Up next for the Gators is a home meet against the Virginia Cavaliers on Oct. 13, leaving plenty of preparation time for the Orange and Blue. Florida will then host the Georgia Bulldogs on Oct. 27.

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PHOTOS: Highlights from Katie Ledecky’s 1500m gold medal at Fukuoka 2023

Check out this gallery of highlights from Katie Ledecky’s gold medal-winning effort at the World Aquatics Championships Fukuoka 2023.

The World Aquatics Championships Fukuoka 2023 kicked off Saturday, July 22, and included a handful of Florida Gators among its competitors. Among the members of the Orange and Blue competing in the event is former assistant coach [autotag]Katie Ledecky[/autotag], who already earned a silver medal in the 400-meter freestyle on Sunday.

The decorated Olympian took this to the next level on Tuesday morning in the Land of the Rising Sun, the most decorated female swimmer in the worlds competition with 20 golds overall —15 of which have come in individual events, including the one she just earned in the 1500-meter freestyle. The mark ties Michael Phelps’ record in world competition for individual gold medals.

She won with a time 15 minutes, 26.27 seconds — the third quickest time of her career and 17 seconds ahead of the remainder of the competition.

Take a look below at highlights from Ledecky’s record-tying effort at the World Aquatics Championships Fukuoka 2023.

PHOTOS: Highlights from Katie Ledecky’s 400m silver medal at Fukuoka 2023

Check out this gallery of highlights from Katie Ledecky’s silver medal-winning effort at the World Aquatics Championships Fukuoka 2023.

The World Aquatics Championships Fukuoka 2023 kicked off Saturday, July 22, and included a handful of Florida Gators among its competitors. One of the standouts in the 400-meter freestyle event was former volunteer coach [autotag]Katie Ledecky[/autotag], who earned a silver medal with a 3:58.73 swim time.

The hardware was the 23rd World Championships medal of her career.

Prior to her medal-winning effort, Ledecky swam a 4:00.80 in the 400-meter event, giving her a slightly better than two-second improvement between the two.

Take a look below at a gallery of highlights from Katie Ledecky’s silver medal-winning effort at the World Aquatics Championships Fukuoka 2023.

5 former Florida Gators who left school at the right time

Pat Dooley lists five Gators who were right to leave school when they did.

In the world of college athletics – which right now is both confusing and rewarding – careers are made by decisions.

It starts early with athletes deciding where they will visit, then where they will commit and finally where they sign. Nowadays, it’s a yearly decision about whether to stay or jump into the transfer portal.

Finally, it’s a decision for the elite (and some not so elite) to turn pro early or use all of their eligibility.

[autotag]Trinity Thomas[/autotag] is facing that decision even though she has been amazing for four full years. Because she has a pandemic year she can still use, Thomas could return for a fifth season and use it as a bridge to the next Olympics.

Thomas would be one of those athletes in Florida history who could choose to leave and we would all say, “Thanks.” The voice would be loud, too, because she is in the argument for greatest gymnast ever at Florida and perhaps the NCAA.

We’ll wait for her to announce, but while we do that, let us look at 10 UF athletes who left early and most Gator fans just wanted to give them a hug and wish them well. They had done enough.

Today, the first five of the top 10 of those athletes. Tomorrow, the second five plus a few that we were wondering what they were thinking.