UF M S&D | Gators Pick Up Eight All-America Honors on Day 3 of NCAA Championships

ATLANTA – On the penultimate day of the NCAA Men’s Championship, the sixth-ranked Florida swimming & diving team garnered eight All-America honors, including two Top-3 finishes.

Six of the eight All-America honors came from Top-8 finishes: Bobby Finke (400 IM), Kieran Smith (200 free), Dillon Hillis (100 breast), Adam Chaney (100 back), Leonardo Garcia (3-meter springboard) and Chaney, Hillis, Eric Friese and Smith (400 MR).

Kevin Vargas (400 IM) and Trey Freeman (200 free) each placed in the Top-16 in their respective finals.

Bobby Finke earned All-America honors in the 400 IM after touching the wall fourth overall with a time of 3:36.83. That bested his previous high of 3:36.90, keeping him in second place in program history.

Kevin Vargas scored some big points for Florida in the Consolation Final en route to his 11th-place finish overall. His time of 3:40.31 earned him the second Honorable Mention All-America honors of his career and bumped him into ninth in program history.

In the Championship Final of the 200 free, Kieran Smith earned All-America honors and 14 points for the Gators after touching the wall fifth overall with a time of 1:31.27.

Trey Freeman swam his way to a third-place finish in the Consolation Final and an 11th-place finish overall with his time of 1:32.49 in the 200 free, earning Honorable Mention All-America honors.

In the Championship Final of the 100 breaststroke, Dillon Hillis placed sixth overall with a time of 51.24 to earn his first individual All-America accolade of the 2022 NCAA meet.

Adam Chaney bested his own school record – that he already previously improved upon during the prelims session – by .04 seconds, finishing third overall in the 100 backstroke with a time of 44.35 to earn a spot on the podium Friday night.

On the 3-meter springboard, Leonardo Garcia earned his first All-America honor of the meet after finishing eighth with a total of 397.70 points in the Championship Final.

The Gators kept up their success in the relays, with the quartet of Chaney, Hillis, Eric Friese and Smith finishing third overall with a new school record of 3:01.00 in the 400 medley relay to close out competition on Friday night.

Chaney led off with a backstroke split of 44.43, followed by a swim of 51.20 from Hillis on the breaststroke leg. Friese swam a 44.41 fly on the third leg, while Smith anchored the freestyle leg with a time of 40.96 to secure the third-place finish for Florida.

400 IM prelim
Defending champion Bobby Finke made his way into the 400 IM Championship Final after swimming the fourth-fastest time in the prelim session (3:37.84).

Kevin Vargas earned a final spot of his own, placing 16th overall with a time of 3:41.10 to come back to the Consolation Final on Friday night.

Mason Laur finished 23rd overall in the event with a time of 3:43.99, while Jack VanDeusen rounded out the Gators competing with a time of 3:48.26 – good for 33rd place.

100 fly prelim
Eric Friese finished the 100 fly prelim with a time of 45.60, touching the wall 30th overall. Jace Crawford followed in 35th place, with his time of 46.10.

200 free prelim
Kieran Smith earned the sixth-overall seed in the Championship Final after finishing with a time of 1:31.90 in the prelim session. Trey Freeman touched the wall 11th overall with a swim of 1:32.17 to earn his spot in the Consolation Final on Friday night.

Macguire McDuff (1:33.58) placed 31st in the race, followed closely behind by Alfonso Mestre (1:33.59) in 33rd. Oskar Lindholm rounded out the Gators in the event, finishing 39th overall with a time of 1:34.09.

100 breast prelim
Dillon Hillis put up a solid 51.27 in the sixth heat of the 100 breaststroke, putting him as the sixth overall seed and earning him a spot in the Championship Final.

100 back prelim
Adam Chaney swam a 44.39 in the preliminary session of the 100 back to earn the No. 2 overall seed in the Championship Final.

3-meter prelim
Leonardo Garcia dove his way into the Championship Final after putting together a stellar six-dive performance. He placed fourth overall with a score of 408.20 to move on to Friday night’s session.

Anton Svirskyi battled back to finish 20th overall, just missing the Consolation Final, with a score of 357.15.

Saturday will feature 18 Gators competing, including seven in 1650 free and four in the 100 free.

Live results for Saturday 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=g_g1oCsdQGRrCHYZFjQLqAOeBs4W2crooCewJNxr4o05p-x2ikYaFZFznqsVTArd&s=xpTwTVbjg3ez365GaH8KxlDyPiyW1qneGnoPrfSi7e4&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=g_g1oCsdQGRrCHYZFjQLqAOeBs4W2crooCewJNxr4o05p-x2ikYaFZFznqsVTArd&s=3KigDfUn6AAFLs7brFJkIIGb5pMeKKrIVOQE1PGbHjQ&e= > webpage.

Saturday’s Individual Competitors

* 200 back: Kieran Smith
* 100 free: Adam Chaney, Macguire McDuff, Eric Friese, Will Davis
* 200 breast: Dillon Hillis, Kevin Vargas
* 200 fly: Jace Crawford, Mason Laur
* Platform: Leonardo Garcia, Anton Svirskyi
* 1650 free: Bobby Finke, Trey Freeman, Tyler Watson, Oskar Lindholm, Alfonso Mestre, Nicholas Hernandez-Tome, Jack VanDeusen

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 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. California – 320.5
2. Texas – 313
3. Florida – 272
4. NC State – 214
5. Indiana – 183
6. Arizona State – 167
7. Stanford – 159
8. Georgia – 150
9. Louisville – 108
Ohio State – 108

Up Next