Athletes associated with the Florida Gators snatched a gold medal and three silver medals in the two days of action.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Members of the Florida men’s and women’s swimming and diving team secured four medals, one gold and three silver, in the first two days of the U.S. Open Championships.
Katie Ledecky and Kieran Smith collected three of the medals earned by athletes associated with the University of Florida, the other was earned by current Gator Josh Liendo. Ledecky grabbed gold in the Women’s 800m free on Wednesday and followed it up with a silver medal finish in the 400m free on Thursday. Smith and Liendo both produced silver medal finishes as they competed in the finals of the 400m free and 50m free, respectively.
Current Gators Emma Weyant, Eric Brown and Jake Mitchell all participated in a final during Thursday’s evening session.
Additionally, Gator signees Sofia Plaza, Addison Reese and Gracie Weyant all competed on Day 2. The top finish by a Gator signee was credited to Reese as she finished 33rd in the prelims of the 200m IM.
All results from Day 1 and 2 of the U.S. Open can be found in the link below.
2023 U.S. Open Championships<https://www.omegatiming.com/2023/toyota-u-s-open-live-results>
Thursday, November 30
Finals:
400m Free:
Women’s A-Final: After finishing as the top qualifier earlier in the morning, Ledecky secured a spot on the podium Thursday night as her time of 4:02.38 resulted in a silver medal, her second medal in as many days at the U.S. Open Championships. The six time individual Olympic medalist finished 2.96 seconds behind Summer McIntosh.
Women’s B-Final: E. Weyant, the current junior, cut down on her time from the prelims by two seconds, resulting in a third-place finish.
Men’s A-Final: Smith became the second athlete associated with the Gators to secure a silver medal in the 400m free as his time of 3:48.72 was just over one second behind the top finisher.
Men’s B-Final: In a race in which three different swimmers took the lead at one point, all three Gator representatives, Mitchell, Finke and Brown, placed first, second and third, respectively. Mitchell used a strong kick in the final 100m to capture a mark of 3:52.89 and earn the first place finish. Finke remained steady throughout the contest and used his signature finish in the last 50m to move from fifth to second in total time 3:53.09. Brown, the sophomore from Qubec, Canada, also climbed the leaderboard moving from eighth to his eventual third place finish.
200m IM:
Men’s B-Final: Mark Szaranek tallied a fourth place finish in the B-final, grabbing a time of 2:01.89.
50m Free:
Men’s A-Final: For the second year in a row Josh Liendo collected a silver medal in the 50m free, swimming a 21.90, only a tenth of a second behind first.
Men’s B-Final: Caleb Dressel, who holds the American Record in the 50m free, finished in first-place with a time of 21.99.
Prelims:
400m Free: Competing in the second of four events, Ledecky finished first in the prelims of the 400m free with a mark of 4:04.06 and advanced to the A-final. Meanwhile, E. Weyant advanced to the B-final with a time of 4:14.53.
On the men’s side, the Gators had a total of four current and former athletes finished in the top 15 for the 400m free. Smith tallied a first place finish behind a 3:50.69 finish and punching his ticket to the A-final. Finke, Mitchell and Brown recorded 10th, 11th and 14th placements, respectively, and all advanced to the B-final.
200m IM: Freshman Molly Mayne registered a time of 2:19.43. She will continue competition on Friday in the 100m and 200m breaststroke.
A trio of 2024 Gator signees Reese, G. Weyant and Plaza completed strong outings placing 33rd, 44th, and 48th.
The only Gator competing in the Men’s 200m IM, Szaranek, advanced to the B-final with a prelim finish of 13th, completing the event in 2:02.18.
50m Free: Senior Natalie Hinds clocked a 25.94 for a finish of 40th. Reese, swimming in her second event, finished 64th.
A trio of Gators qualified for various finals in the 50m free. Liendo collected a fourth-place finish, swimming a 22.07 on route to the A-final. Dressel, former Gator as well as American and U.S. Open record holder in the 50m free, finished 13th and advanced to the B-final. Lastly, junior McDuff notched a finish of 21st good for a spot in the C-final with a preliminary time of 22.56.
Wednesday, November 29
Finals:
800m Free: Ledecky, a former volunteer coach for the Gators, began her outing at the U.S. Open with a first place finish in the 800m free recording a time of 8:15.91.
Robert Finke also recorded a top five finish in the event as the former Gator student-athlete swam a 7:54.90, good for a placement of fourth.
