UF M S&D | Gators Win 200 Free Relay National Championship; Sit Second After Day 2

ATLANTA – On the second night of the NCAA Championship Meet, the No. 6 Florida men’s swimming & diving team won its second NCAA championship and garnered seven All-America honors in the process.

Florida currently sits second in the team standings with 159 points.

For the second-straight night, Florida earned a national championship in a relay, this time taking the crown in the 200 free relay for the first time since the 2018 season. The time of 1:14.11 from Adam Chaney, Eric Friese, Will Davis and Kieran Smith set a new school record, topping the previous time by .29 seconds. The swim was also just .03 off the NCAA record set by Auburn back in 2009.

Davis’s split of 18.28 on the third leg led the way for Florida, while Friese followed with an 18.39 split on the second leg. Smith and Chaney finished with splits of 18.59 and 18.85, respectively.

The Gator men racked up four All-America honors in the 500 free to kick off Thursday night’s final session, led by Kieran Smith’s fourth-place finish. He improved upon his prelim time by almost two seconds, going 4:08.68. Alfonso Mestre finished seventh overall, touching the wall in a time of 4:11.98 to pick up 12 points for Florida.

In the Consolation Final of the 500 free, Bobby Finke posted a time of 4:11.74 to finish second in the heat and 10th overall. Trey Freeman placed directly behind Finke in 11th place overall with his swim of 4:12.70 – besting his prelim time by .10 seconds. That new time pushes Freeman to seventh overall in program history.

Adam Chaney led the way in the Consolation Final of the 50 free, touching the wall first with a time of 18.75 to secure nine points. That topped his previous best time of 18.76 by .01, keeping him second in program history.

Will Davis followed Chaney in third place, finishing 11th overall with his time of 18.99. That bested his previous Top-10 swim of 19.01, keeping him fifth in program history.

500 free prelim
Four Gators swam their way into the 500 free finals session after their performances Thursday morning. Alfonso Mestre led all Florida swimmers with a third-place finish, punching his ticket to the Championship Final with a time of 4:09.74. That time pushed him to second overall in program history.

Kieran Smith followed closely behind, touching the wall in fifth place with a time of 4:10.53 for his own spot in the A Final. Bobby Finke finished the prelim with a time of 4:11.77, good for ninth overall and the top-seed in the Consolation Final, while Trey Freeman also earned a spot in the B Final, swimming a 4:12.80 to place 13th overall.

Oskar Lindholm finished 21st overall in the first individual NCAA event of his career, posting a time of 4:15.74. Tyler Watson touched the wall 30th with a swim of 4:17.10, while Nicholas Hernandez-Tome (4:18.83) and Jack VanDeusen (4:21.45) finished 36th and 47th, respectively.

200 IM prelim
Dillon Hillis led the way for Florida in the 200 IM prelim, finishing 28th overall with a time of 1:43.56. Kevin Vargas swam a time of 1:44.10, good for 38th overall, while Mason Laur finished 49th in the event with a time of 1:45.35.

50 free prelim
Adam Chaney and Will Davis each swam their way into the 50 free Consolation Final on Thursday night, after placing 10th and 14th, respectively with times of 19.00 and 19.10.

Eric Friese finished 29th overall with a swim of 19.36, while Macguire McDuff rounded out the Gators in the competition, placing 31st with a time of 19.42.

1-meter prelim
Leonardo Garcia finished 38th overall in the 1-meter prelim session on Thursday afternoon, posting a score of 279.95.

Friday will feature 17 Gators competing, including six in the 400 IM and five in the 200 free.

Live results for Friday can be found here<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__swimmeetresults.tech_NCAA-2DDivision-2DI-2DMen-2D2022_&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=fK2r2FfIRMnh1Or5iJ5xCWbiLydhFs4VOx6PMy1zsEr-YNpVWC5HWeuczRMSKqf-&s=t45yy2YRGa5CCK7-i1p1Oz7zBOadUPk8KEkYF2UyiOY&e= > or on the Meet Mobile app, as well as on FloridaGators.com at the conclusion of competition each day.

Video links for prelims and finals sessions are available on the Championship Central<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__ramblinwreck.com_2022-2Dncaa-2Ddivision-2Di-2Dmens-2Dswimming-2Ddiving-2Dchampionships_&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=fK2r2FfIRMnh1Or5iJ5xCWbiLydhFs4VOx6PMy1zsEr-YNpVWC5HWeuczRMSKqf-&s=ZIm8Gx3CdItQL_zdyicHxD4uZLts_OYg_-KCq6TJO7s&e= > webpage.

Friday’s Individual Competitors

  *   400 IM: Kevin Vargas, Mason Laur, Jack VanDeusen, Nicholas Hernandez-Tome, Bobby Finke, Tyler Watson
  *   100 fly: Eric Friese, Jace Crawford
  *   200 free: Kieran Smith, Trey Freeman, Alfonso Mestre, Oskar Lindholm, Macguire McDuff
  *   100 breast: Dillon Hillis
  *   100 back: Adam Chaney
  *   3-meter diving: Leonardo Garcia, Anton Svirskyi

Schedule of Events

  *   All prelims are set to start at 10 a.m. ET
  *   All finals are set to start at 6 p.m. ET
  *   Day 3 – Friday, March 25
     *   400 IM
     *   100 fly
     *   200 free
     *   100 breast
     *   100 back
     *   3-meter diving
     *   400 medley relay (finals only)
  *   Day 4 – Saturday, March 26
     *   200 back
     *   100 free
     *   200 breast
     *   200 fly
     *   Platform diving
     *   1650 free (3:45 p.m. start)
     *   400 free relay (finals only)

Standings

  1.  Texas – 180
  2.  Florida – 159
  3.  California – 158
  4.  NC State – 124
  5.  Stanford – 54
  6.  Arizona State – 111
  7.  Stanford – 94
  8.  Indiana – 78
  9.  Virginia – 70.5
  10. Virginia Tech – 28

Up Next

  *   Friday’s prelim session is set to begin at 10 a.m.
     *   Live video can be found on ESPN3<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.espn.com_watch_catalog_904ff2f3-2D3ce3-2D3b9e-2Dbca9-2D3608ec5f616b_swimming-2Dand-2Ddiving-23bucketId-3D29774-26sourceCollection-3DBrowse-5FBy-5FSport-5FNew&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=fK2r2FfIRMnh1Or5iJ5xCWbiLydhFs4VOx6PMy1zsEr-YNpVWC5HWeuczRMSKqf-&s=FYpeSk3DhQpXJW-_gVpZ-mI4YhIfXO_RZQz_Mokq764&e= >
     *   Live results can be found here<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__swimmeetresults.tech_NCAA-2DDivision-2DI-2DWomen-2D2022_&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=fK2r2FfIRMnh1Or5iJ5xCWbiLydhFs4VOx6PMy1zsEr-YNpVWC5HWeuczRMSKqf-&s=9tH1H2FNcb0l7xMVchKAEpf-3ANUTFdzocw2PI53Cs0&e= > or on the Meet Mobile app
  *   Diving is set to begin at 12:30 p.m. after the conclusion of prelims
     *   Live video can be found on ESPN3<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.espn.com_watch_catalog_904ff2f3-2D3ce3-2D3b9e-2Dbca9-2D3608ec5f616b_swimming-2Dand-2Ddiving-23bucketId-3D29774-26sourceCollection-3DBrowse-5FBy-5FSport-5FNew&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=fK2r2FfIRMnh1Or5iJ5xCWbiLydhFs4VOx6PMy1zsEr-YNpVWC5HWeuczRMSKqf-&s=FYpeSk3DhQpXJW-_gVpZ-mI4YhIfXO_RZQz_Mokq764&e= >
     *   Live results can be found on DiveMeets<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__secure.meetcontrol.com_divemeets_system_meetresultsext.php-3Fmeetnum-3D7937&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=fK2r2FfIRMnh1Or5iJ5xCWbiLydhFs4VOx6PMy1zsEr-YNpVWC5HWeuczRMSKqf-&s=nnj0PSE5FlEA6BRBf_CmhXQTVd5Nt8Yqr9rqbaeros8&e= >
  *   Friday’s finals session is slated for a 6 p.m. start
     *   Live video can be found on ESPN3<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.espn.com_watch_catalog_904ff2f3-2D3ce3-2D3b9e-2Dbca9-2D3608ec5f616b_swimming-2Dand-2Ddiving-23bucketId-3D29774-26sourceCollection-3DBrowse-5FBy-5FSport-5FNew&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=fK2r2FfIRMnh1Or5iJ5xCWbiLydhFs4VOx6PMy1zsEr-YNpVWC5HWeuczRMSKqf-&s=FYpeSk3DhQpXJW-_gVpZ-mI4YhIfXO_RZQz_Mokq764&e= >
     *   Live results can be found here<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__swimmeetresults.tech_NCAA-2DDivision-2DI-2DWomen-2D2022_&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=fK2r2FfIRMnh1Or5iJ5xCWbiLydhFs4VOx6PMy1zsEr-YNpVWC5HWeuczRMSKqf-&s=9tH1H2FNcb0l7xMVchKAEpf-3ANUTFdzocw2PI53Cs0&e= > or on the Meet Mobile app

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