ATLANTA – The Florida men’s swimming & diving team closed out the 2021-22 season with a third-place finish at NCAAs, garnering a total of 374 points over the four day meet.
Over the course of the week, Florida racked up three national titles (one individual, two relay) and 42 All-America honors.
In what came as a surprise to no one after the first 100 yards of the 1650 free, Bobby Finke claimed his second-straight National Championship in the event, breaking the pool record with a time of 14:22.28.
The Gators had four other milers earn Honorable Mention All-America honors in the event, led by Alfonso Mestre’s 10th-place finish. His time of 14:39.82 put him fifth in program history. Mestre was followed by Tyler Watson, who touched the wall in 12th place with a time of 14:46.95.
Oskar Lindholm earned HM All-America honors of his own after finishing 14th with a time of 14:51.62, while Trey Freeman rounded out the scorers in 15th place with a time of 14:52.35.
Kieran Smith earned his third individual All-America honor of the meet after finishing fourth overall in the 200 back with a time of 1:39.39.
After touching the wall sixth in the Consolation Final of the 200 breast with a time of 1:51.12, Dillon Hillis finished 14th overall to collect three points for Florida. That was his fourth All-America honor of the week and he once again improved upon his best time, remaining second in program history.
Jace Crawford tallied the first All-America honor of his career after finishing 13th overall in the 200 fly, swimming a 1:41.38 on Saturday evening. That kept him sixth overall in program history and improved upon his career-best time.
Leonardo Garcia earned his second-straight All-America honor after finishing fourth in the Championship Final of the men’s platform with 406.05 points.
Anton Svirskyi placed seven in the platform Consolation Final to claim the first Honorable Mention All-America accolade of his career. He totaled 294.40 en route to picking up two points for the Gators.
The Florida quartet of Adam Chaney, Eric Friese, Macguire McDuff and Kieran Smith closed out the meet with a sixth-place finish in the 400 free relay, swimming a time of 2:47.39.
Smith anchored with the fastest split of 41.35, followed by McDuff’s 41.79 third leg. Chaney posted a 41.93 to lead off the relay and Friese swam a 42.32 in the second leg.
The senior class of Will Davis, Bobby Finke, Dillon Hillis and Kieran Smith tallied 17 All-America honors between them this meet and also were a part of three national championships throughout the week.
200 back prelim
Kieran Smith swam his way into the Championship Final of the 200 back after posting a time of 1:38.99 in the preliminary session, giving him the seventh overall seed. That topped his previous collegiate best and pushed him into second-place in program history.
100 free prelim
Adam Chaney led the way in the 100 free prelim with a 17th place finish, recording a time of 41.97. Macguire McDuff followed in 20th place overall with a personal-best swim of 42.18, keeping him eighth in the Florida record book.
Eric Friese touched the wall 24th overall in the event, swimming a 42.22 and Will Davis rounded out the Gators in the 100 free with a time of 42.95 – good for 44th place.
200 breast prelim
Dillon Hillis earned his spot in Saturday night’s 200 breast Consolation Final after finishing the prelim 12th with a time of 1:52.14. That swim put him second overall in program history, just under a second off the top time (Mark Szaranek – 1:51.17).
Kevin Vargas swam a 1:55.06 in the prelim session, good for 34th place overall.
200 fly prelim
Jace Crawford swam his way into the first NCAA Consolation Final of his career after touching the wall 14th overall in the 200 fly. His time of 1:41.60 improved upon his already Top-10 worthy collegiate best, pushing him into sixth in Florida’s program history.
Mason Laur rounded out his NCAA competition with a 35th place finish in the event.
Platform diving prelim
Both Leonardo Garcia and Anton Svirskyi punched their ticket to a final on Saturday after placing sixth and 16th, respectively in the platform diving event.
Garcia clinched his spot in back-to-back Championship Finals after recording a score of 362.70 in morning session. After missing out on the 3-meter final by just four places, Svirskyi earned his spot in the platform Consolation Final with a total of 330.60 points.
1650 free (Timed Finals)
Two other Gators competed in the 1650 free timed finals, with Jack VanDeusen (15:10.85) and Nicholas Hernandez-Tome (15:15.84) finishing 30th and 31st, respectively.
Final Team Standings
1. California – 487.5
2. Texas – 436.5
3. Florida – 374
4. NC State – 291
5. Indiana – 265
6. Arizona State – 236
7. Stanford – 231
8. Georgia – 194
9. Ohio State – 165
10. Virginia – 154.5
2022 All-America Honors:
Adam Chaney – 6 (50 free – HM, 100 back, 200 MR, 200 FR, 400 MR, 400 FR)
Jace Crawford – 1 (200 fly)
Will Davis – 3 (50 free – HM, 200 MR, 200 FR)
Bobby Finke – 3 (400 IM, 500 free – HM, 1650 free)
Trey Freeman – 4 (200 free – HM, 500 free – HM, 1650 free – HM, 800 FR)
Eric Friese – 4 (200 MR, 200 FR, 400 MR, 400 FR)
Leonardo Garcia – 2 (3-meter, Platform)
Dillon Hillis – 4 (100 breast, 200 breast – HM, 200 MR, 400 MR)
Oskar Lindholm – 2 (1650 free – HM, 800 FR)
Alfonso Mestre – 3 (500 free, 1650 free – HM, 800 FR)
Kieran Smith – 7 (200 free, 500 free, 200 back, 800 FR, 200 FR, 400 MR, 400 FR)
Anton Svirskyi – 1 (Platform)
Kevin Vargas – 1 (400 IM – HR)
Tyler Watson – 1 (1650 free – HM)
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