UF S&D: Florida Earns Relay All-American Honors on the Opening Night of NCAAs

Gators in fourth with 60 points after the first night of competition

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Florida Gators men’s swimming and diving team sits in fourth place after earning All-American honors in the 200 medley relay and 800 freestyle relay following the opening night of the 2023 NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships at the University of Minnesota’s Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center.

The Gators’ 200 medley relay team of Adam Chaney, Aleksas Savickas, Eric Friese and Joshua Liendo started off the championships with a fast start, clocking a 1:21.14, the second-fastest in school history. Liendo’s 50 free split of 18.03, the fastest in the event, pushed Florida into the top-three. The only teams to beat the Gators, NC State and Arizona State, both recorded times that had never been achieved before.

Florida notched a top-five finish in the 800 free relay, swimming a 6:08.79 to finish fifth. Macguire McDuff swam a leadoff split of 1:31.56, while Julian Smith’s 1:31.92 anchor split secured the Gators with 28 points in the event.

The 60 team points scored by Florida tonight puts them in fourth in the standings, just two points behind third, six behind second, and eight behind first place.

Tomorrow’s prelim events, the 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free and 1-meter diving, are set for an 11 a.m. ET start, with finals beginning at 7 p.m. ET. Florida will have 17 individuals competing tomorrow:
500 Free – Oskar Lindholm, Jake Mitchell, Eric Brown, Giovanni Linscheer, Alfonso Mestre, Tyler Watson
200 IM – Aleksas Savickas, Mason Laur, Joaquin Gonzalez Pinero, Dillon Hillis, Julian Smith
50 Free – Alberto Mestre, Adam Chaney, Macguire McDuff, Joshua Liendo
1-meter – Leonardo Garcia, Skip Donald

All-American Tracker
200 Medley Relay – Chaney, Savickas, Friese, Liendo
800 Free Relay – McDuff, Mitchell, Alf. Mestre, Smith

2023 NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships Standings:
1. Arizona State – 68 points
2. NC State – 66 points
3. California – 62 points
4. Florida – 60 points
5. Indiana – 58 points
6. Texas – 50 points
7. Louisville – 42 points
8. Auburn – 40 points
9. Stanford – 38 points
10. Alabama – 26 points

Thursday – Prelims at 11 a.m. | Finals at 7 p.m.
500 Free
200 IM
50 Free
1-Meter Diving
200 Free Relay
Friday – Prelims at 11 a.m. | Finals at 7 p.m.
400 IM
100 Fly
200 Free
100 Breast
100 Back
3-Meter Diving
400 Medley Relay
Saturday – Prelims at 11 a.m. | Finals at 7 p.m.
1650 Free
200 Back
100 Free
200 Breast
200 Fly
Platform Diving
400 Free Relay

All meet information, including schedules, tickets, heat sheets/results, streaming links, parking and fan policies, can be found on the 2023 NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships Central page<https://gophersports.com/sports/2022/9/29/2023-ncaa-championships>.

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