UF S&D: Florida Floods SEC Postseason Awards List

Florida Floods SEC Postseason Awards List
Anthony Nesty named Men’s and Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year; Joshua Liendo and Zoe Dixon earn Freshman Swimmers of the Year

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Southeastern Conference announced its 2023 postseason awards on Wednesday, highlighted by the Gators winning both SEC Men’s and Women’s Coach of the Year and SEC Freshman Swimmers of the Year.

Head Coach Anthony Nesty was named the SEC Men’s and Women’s Coach of the year, joining Randy Reese in 1990 as the only Florida coaches in program history to win both honors in the same season.

For a fifth-straight season, Nesty took home SEC Men’s Coach of the Year. He is the only coach in Florida history to earn the honor in at least each of his first three seasons at the helm. The Gators won their 11th-straight SEC Championship back in February, tied for the sixth-longest consecutive SEC Championship streaks in conference history among any sport.

Nesty earns his first SEC Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year honor, and is the fifth Gators coach in program history to achieve such honors, and only the first since Gregg Troy back in 2008.

For the ninth time in program history, and first since 1992-93, Florida won both the men’s and women’s swimming and diving SEC Championships, and became the first SEC school to win both in 15 years (Auburn 2008).

Florida swept the Freshmen Swimmers of the Year honors, as Joshua Liendo and Zoe Dixon both earned the top freshman conference honors following impressive first-year campaigns.

Liendo, a native of Markham, Ontario, Canada, won seven total medals at the SEC Championships, including three gold and four silver. He set the second-fastest 100 fly time in school history at 44.11, only behind Caeleb Dressel. Liendo was a member of the SEC record-breaking 400 medley relay, swimming fly in the third leg, and earned a spot on the All-SEC First Team and All-Freshman Team.

At the NCAA Championships a month later, Liendo followed up his SEC titles with four National Championships. The Canadian Olympian won the 100 free National Championship, swimming a 40.28, making him the second-fastest swimmer in the event only behind Dressel. Liendo was also a member of the 200-medley relay, 400 medley relay, and 400 free relay that broke NCAA records in Minnesota around three weeks ago.

Throughout his first season with the Gators, Liendo won SEC Men’s Swimmer of the Week twice and SEC Men’s Freshman of the Week once.

Zoe Dixon becomes the first Florida freshman to win SEC Female Freshman Swimmer of the Year since Natalie Hinds in 2013.

Dixon recorded the 16th-fastest 400 IM time in the country this season at 4:06.18, a personal-best, during the 2023 SEC Championships. That time was the third-fastest recorded by a freshman this season.

In the 200 IM, she posted a personal-best 1:55.23 in the 200 IM at the conference championships, finishing fourth in the event. Dixon had the second-fastest time by a freshman in the country this season, and the 18th-fastest overall.

Dixon won the SEC Women’s Freshman of the Week twice this season (11/1, 1/17) while also earning a spot on the All-Freshman Team.

Nine Gator men earned spots on the All-SEC First Team: Adam Chaney, Dillon Hillis, Joshua Liendo, Macguire McDuff, Alberto Mestre, Alfonso Mestre, Jake Mitchell, Aleksas Savickas and Julian Smith, while four Gator women earned spots on the All-SEC First Team: Talia Bates, Micayla Cronk, Ekaterina Nikonova and Emma Weyant. The First Team consists of the top finisher in each event.

100 back (M)

Adam Chaney

100 breast (M)

Dillon Hillis

100 fly (M)

Joshua Liendo

200 breast (M)

Aleksas Savickas

400 IM (W)

Emma Weyant

500 free (M)

Jake Mitchell

200 FR (M)

McDuff, Liendo, Chaney, Alberto Mestre

400 MR (M)

Chaney, Hillis, Liendo, McDuff

800 FR (W)

Nikonova, Bates, Weyant, Cronk

800 FR (M)

McDuff, Smith, Alfonso Mestre, Mitchell

Five women and four men landed on the All-SEC second team, which consists of second- and third-place finishers in each event at the SEC Championships. Maha Amer, Nina Kucheran, Katie Mack, Olivia Peoples and Aris Runnels won it on the women’s side, while Eric Friese, Leonardo Garcia, Joaquin Gonzalez and Tyler Watson represented the Florida men.

1-meter (W)

Maha Amer

Platform (M)

Leonardo Garcia

200 Fly (M)

Joaquin Gonzalez Pinero

1650 Free (M)

Tyler Watson

200 MR (W)

Runnels, Kucheran, Peoples, Mack

200 MR (M)

Eric Friese

Florida had four men and two women earn a spot on the All-Freshman Team after their performances at the 2023 Championships. The All-Freshman Team consists of any redshirt or true freshman who finished either in the top eight or is the highest scoring freshman of each event at the SEC Championship, excluding relay events.

Men’s and Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year: Anthony Nesty
Men’s Freshman Swimmer of the Year: Joshua Liendo
Women’s Freshman Swimmer of the Year: Zoe Dixon

All-SEC First Team
Men
Adam Chaney
Dillon Hillis
Joshua Liendo
Macguire McDuff
Alberto Mestre
Alfonso Mestre
Jake Mitchell
Aleksas Savickas
Julian Smith

Women
Talia Bates
Micayla Cronk
Ekaterina Nikonova
Emma Weyant

All-SEC Second Team
Men
Leonardo Garcia
Joaquin Gonzalez Pinero
Eric Friese
Tyler Watson

Women
Maha Amer
Nina Kucheran
Katie Mack
Olivia Peoples
Aris Runnels

All-SEC Freshman Team
Men
Eric Brown
Joshua Liendo
Giovanni Linscheer
Aleksas Savickas

Women
Zoe Dixon
Hayden Miller

Full Awards
Male Swimmer of the Year

Jordan Crooks, Tennessee

Female Swimmer of the Year

Maggie MacNeil, LSU

Male Freshman Swimmer of the Year

Joshua Liendo, Florida

Female Freshman Swimmer of the Year