UF S&D: Josh Liendo Named College Sports Communicators Academic All-America First Team

The junior is one of 10 student-athletes to be named to the College Sports Communicators 2024-25 Academic All-America ® Men’s Swimming & Diving Team’s First-Team.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In recognition of his academic and athletic achievements, Florida swimmer Josh Liendo has been named to the 2024-25 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-America Division I Men’s Swimming and Diving First Team.

Liendo, an Education Sciences major, owns a cumulative grade-point average of 3.57. The junior was a six-time All-American (100 Butterfly, 50 Freestyle, 100 Freestyle, 200 Freestyle Relay, 400 Freestyle Relay, 400 Medley Relay) at the 2024-25 NCAA Division I National Championships. He won his third-straight 100 free national title and took home is second-consecutive title in the 100 fly. Liendo was also part of the Gators 400 medley relay who won the program’s third national title in 2:56.10 for an NCAA Meet record.

Prior to that, Liendo was crowned the individual SEC Champion in both the 100 Butterfly and 100 Freestyle, while also contributing to Florida’s dominance in the 400 medley and 800 freestyle relays. His performance was key to 15 record-breaking swims during the competition. The Scarborough, Canadian native swam the fly leg of the Gators’ 400 medley relay team who touched the wall in 2:55.66 to claim first place and set new NCAA, SEC, SEC Meet, program, and Georgia pool records. Liendo also finished second in the 50 Freestyle and served as the leadoff swimmer in both the 200 freestyle relay (1:13.29) and 400 freestyle relay (2:43.60), with both squads setting school records and earning runner-up finishes.

Liendo represented Canada at the 2024 Paris Olympics and won silver in the men’s 100m butterfly, setting a national record of 49.99 seconds in Paris. The podium finish came one day after he placed fourth in the men’s 50m freestyle, missing a medal by just 0.02. Additionally, he was also part of fifth place finishes in the mixed 4x100m medley relay and men’s 4x100m medley relay. Liendo made his Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 where he was a semifinalist in the men’s 100m freestyle and 100m butterfly. He is the first Black Canadian swimmer to win a gold medal and an individual medal at a major international championship.

Two Gators have earned CSC All-America honors this season. Overall, 123 Gator student-athletes have been honored 169 times.

GATOR ALL-AMERICANS THIS SEASON:
Name

Sport

Year

Selection

Team

Josh Liendo

Swimming

2025

Swimming

1st

Kennedy Martin

Volleyball

2024

Volleyball

1st

ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICANS BY SPORT:
Sport

# of honorees

# of honors

Swimming (Men)

17

Student-athletes

20

Honors

The 10 members of the Division I first team had a 3.91 average GPA. A total of six members had 4.00 GPAs, with three on the first team.

2024-25 Academic All-America Men’s Swimming & Diving Team – NCAA Division I

FIRST TEAM
Name                                School                                             Yr.      GPA         Major
Tiago Behar                       Arizona State University                    Sr.      3.99         Computer Science
Martin Espernberger (1)     University of Tennessee                    Jr.       3.91         Electrical Engineering
Jack Kelly                          Brown University                               Sr.      3.80         Mechanical Engineering
Jonny Kulow (!) (1)             Arizona State University                    Jr.       4.00         Microbiology
Josh Liendo                     University of Florida                       Jr.      3.57         Education Sciences
Mason Mathias (1)             Auburn University                             Sr.      4.00         Mechanical Engineering
Anthony Rincon                 Harvard University                            Sr.      3.95         Neuroscience
Ron Polonsky (1, 4)           Stanford University                            Sr.      3.97         Computer Science
Patrick Sammon                Arizona State University                    Sr.      4.00         Business Finance
Carson Tyler (2)                Indiana University                             Sr.      3.93         Political Science

SECOND TEAM
Name                                School                                             Yr.      GPA         Major
Andrew Bell (2)                  University of Massachusetts              Jr.       3.83         Computer Science & Mathematics
Coby Carrozza (1, 4)          University of Texas                           Gr.      3.92         Advertising
Liam Custer                       Stanford University                            Jr.       3.77         Management Science & Engineering
Michael Faughnan             Iona University                                  Gr.         3.88/3.88                  Accounting
Jesco Helling (3)                University of Utah                             Gr.         4.00/4.00                  Chemical Engineering
Quinn Henninger (1)          Indiana University                             Sr.      3.77         Finance
Luke Hobson                     University of Texas                           Sr.      3.50         Advertising
Owen McDonald                Indiana University                             Jr.       3.82         Fitness & Wellness
Levi Sandidge                    University of Kentucky                       Jr.       3.63         Computer Science
Björn Seeliger (1, 4)           California                                          Gr.         3.73/3.73                  Business Administration

THIRD TEAM
Name                                School                                             Yr.      GPA         Major
Milan Bukovics                   University of Hawai’i at Manoa           Sr.         3.54/4.00                  Electrical Engineering
Bradon Chapman               University of Denver                          Sr.      3.82         Accounting
Gavin Currie                      University of Delaware                      Sr.      3.95         Business Analytics
Nick Jubilee                       Villanova University                           Sr.      3.56         Nursing
Henry McFadden               Stanford University                            So.      3.87         Undeclared
Baylor Nelson (3)               Texas A&M                                      Jr.       3.60         Journalism
Matvei Namakonov            University of Delaware                      Sr.      3.89         Physics
Elias Petersen                   University of Utah                             Jr.       3.66         Communications
Tyler Ray                          Michigan                                          Jr.       3.55         Business Administration
Bar Soloveychik (2)            University of Minnesota                     Sr.      3.93         Computer Science
Eric Stelmar                      SMU                                                Gr.         4.00/3.98                  Sport Management

CSC Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year: Jonny Kulow, Arizona State University

(1) – Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year in 2022-23
(1) – 1st team Academic All-America® in 2023-24
(2) – 2nd team Academic All-America® in 2023-24
(3) – 3rd  team Academic All-America® in 2023-24
(4) – 1st team Academic All-America® in 2022-23

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