UF S&D: Freshman Gators Rise to the Occasion, Downing Two School Records on Day Five of SEC Championships

Jonny Marshall clocks the fastest freshman 100 backstroke time, while Bella Sims breaks four different records.

Championship Central<https://auburntigers.com/feature/sec-swim-dive-24> | Results<https://floridagators.com/documents/2024/2/24/friday_finals_complete_results.pdf>

AUBURN, Ala. – First years Jonny Marshall and Bella Sims scratched their names in multiple history books on Friday, earning a combined four gold medals and slashing six records on day five of the 2024 SEC Swimming and Diving Championships inside the James E. Martin Aquatic Center.

Both teams remain on top, with the men keeping a sturdy lead with 1198.5 points, while the women’s 1,051.5 points give them a 214.5 advantage over second.

Bella Sims shattered both of her 200 butterfly and 100 backstroke times en route to two school records and two SEC records. The Nevada native finished nearly two seconds ahead of silver in 1:51.45 to break Florida’s 15-year record that was set by Jemma Lowe (1:52.53) as well as the SEC and SEC Meet record set in 2022 by Kentucky’s Riley Gaines (1:51.51). Leading off the women’s 400-medley relay A team, Sims set her second school record of the night after she zoomed to a 50.07 split to take back the top spot in the 100 backstroke after her teammate Isabel Ivey had claimed No. 1 in the event with her 50.40 just an hour prior.

After Jonny Marshall went 44.36 for a new personal best in the 100 back to sit in second behind current Gator Adam Chaney in Florida’s top-10, the freshman zoomed to a 44.12 to claim top spot in program history and on the podium. Marshall’s time marks the fastest freshman time ever in the event. He also swam as the lead off in the 400-medley relay A team for the first time all season and finished with a 45.13 split to help the Gators claim first and end two-for-two in gold medals on the night.

Sims’ 1:52.45 marked the program’s 30th women’s SEC 200 fly title and was the first time since 2015 a Gator took home gold in the event. Three other Gators advanced to the A finals, as sophomore Zoe Dixon finished in fourth place with 1:54.99 to sit at seventh best of all-time. Lainey Kruger improved her prelim time of 1:56.76 to go 1:56.09 for seventh place.

Isabel Ivey became the first Gator since 2010 to take home Gold in the women’s 100 back. The Gainesville native posted a 50.40 to claim Florida’s 13th women’s title and gain control of the school record before Sims’ split. Aris Runnels sits seventh best in the record books after improving her morning time to a 51.71 for fifth. Carly Meeting swam her best 100 time after going 52.50 in the prelims, where she would finish seventh in the A final with a 52.54 time.

Jonny’s 44.12 gave Florida’s their third-consecutive and 19th overall gold in the event, as Adam Chaney had gone back-to-back in the 100 back. Chaney claimed silver after clocking a 44.87. Scotty Buff shredded 0.82 seconds off his prelim time to go 45.29, which was good for fifth best in Florida’s top-10.

Molly Mayne was the only Gator in the women’s 100 breaststroke A final and placed eighth with a time of 59.83. Olivia Peoples went 1:00.99 in the B final after she swam a 1:00.29 in prelims to record the ninth-best time in program history.

Having broken Auburn’s 100 breaststroke record with a 51.05 in the prelims, Aleksas Savickas swam an even faster time of 51.01 to reset his previous time on the way to the podium for his gold medal. The sophomores time marks third best in Florida’s record book, ahead of Julian Smith’s new personal best finish of 51.26, which sit fourth-best of all-time.

The 400-medley relay A Team of Bella Sims, Molly Mayne, Olivia Peoples and Isabel Ivey closed out the finals event with a new school record time of 3:25.16 to improve their entry time by 3.52 second to earn silver.

Having won the 400-medley relay three years in a row, the men’s A Relay Team of Jonny Marshall, Aleksas Savickas, Joshua Liendo and Macguire McDuff cruised to a 3:00.49 to give Florida its fourth-consecutive title to become the first program to win more than three-consecutive golds was Auburn from 2006-2010.

Diving

Having his own successful first year, diver Conor Gesing earned a spot in the Men’s A Platform Finals after placing fifth with a score 3:37.15. Gesing, whose won gold in the 3-meter and bronze in the 1-meter, remained in fifth place overall out of 25 divers after scoring 321.90.

In the B Finals, Skip Donald improved his third-round dive to better his prelims score of 316.00 score to 329.00. The fifth year finished fourth in the consolation final, 12th overall.

Up Next

Your 2024 Men’s and Women’s SEC Swimming and Diving Champions will be crowned tomorrow as Saturday marks the final day/ At 10:30 a.m. the 200 back, 100 free and the 200 breast preliminaries go underway. At 12:30 p.m. ET, the women’s diving squad head up the tower for platform prelims, followed by the B Final. The 1650 free heats will go underway at 3:30 p.m. Championship Finals begin at 6:30 p.m., with the 400 free relay being the closer. All prelims and finals sessions can be viewed live on SEC Network or live results can be found on Meet Mobile and Dive Meet.

Hear from the Winning Gators

Bella Sims, Florida, Women’s 200 Butterfly

“200 fly is a hard event, but it is definitely my favorite event. I was just focused on staying relaxed. Fly is one of those strokes where if you try too hard, you’re not going to go anywhere. I was just trying to stay relaxed and focus on my underwater kick count.”

Isabel Ivey, Women’s 100 Backstroke

“That race was just fun. I don’t really swim the 100 backstroke, so to go out with best time meant a lot. To score points points for the Gators is always great.”

Jonny Marshall, Men’s 100 Backstroke

“I thought it was a great race. I went fast this morning. Knew that it was going to take a good time for me tonight, but I was confident coming in. It was just a great race and a great time.”

Aleksas Savickas, Men’s 100 Breaststroke

“It was a tough race. The field was great. We were all right next to each other. I executed the race how I wanted to. That top end speed is going to shine through a little bit.”

Jonny Marshall, Men’s 400 Medley Relay

“This is my first time ever being on a big “A” relay like this. I felt really inspired by my upperclassmen and my other teammates to go fast and bring home the gold for the Blue & Orange.”

Gator Medal Count

* Gold – 19
* Silver – 10
* Bronze – 4

Current Team Scores

Men

Florida

1,198.5

Auburn

837

Tennessee

822

Georgia

791

Texas A&M

757.5

LSU

431

Missouri

415

Alabama

366

South Carolina

324

10.

Kentucky

319

Women

Florida

1,051.5

Tennessee

837

Texas A&M

498

Auburn

625.5

Georgia

617

Alabama

473

South Carolina

499

LSU

392

Kentucky

307

10.

Missouri

281.5

11.

Arkansas

260

12.

Vanderbilt

162

Day Five Complete Results

Results from Friday’s prelims and finals as well as Saturday’s schedule can be found below.

Friday, Feb. 23

9:30 a.m. Prelims

Women’s 200 Butterfly

* Bella Sims – 1:52.93 (-1.12 seed time)
* Zoe Dixon – 1:55.82 (-0.51 seed time)
* Lainy Kruger – 1:56.76 (+1.35 seed time)
* Amanda Ray – 1:57.38 (+1.08 seed time)

Men’s 200 Butterfly

* Mason Laur – 1:42.15 (-1.38 seed time)
* Joaquin Gonzalez Pinero – (-3.03 seed time)
* Billy Jones – 1:44.28 (-0.89 seed time)

Women’s 100 Backstroke

* Isabel Ivey – 51.27 (+0.09 seed time)
* Aris Runnels – 52.10 (-0.35 seed time)
* Carly Meeting – 52.51 (-0.45 seed time)
* Catie Choate – 52.96 (+0.51 seed time)

Men’s 100 Backstroke

* Jonny Marshall – 44.36 (-1.21 seed time)
* Adam Chaney – 45.21 (-0.06 seed time)
* Scotty Buff – 46.11 (-0.94 seed time)

Women’s 100 Breaststroke

* Molly Mayne – 59.31 (+0.63 seed time)
* Olivia Peoples – 1:00.26 (-0.39 seed time)
* Grace Rainey – 1:01.09 (+0.31 seed time)

Men’s 100 Breaststroke

* Aleksas Savickas – 51.05 (-1.42 seed time)
* Julian Smith – 52.00 (-0.15 seed time)
* Peter Bretzmann – (-0.39 seed time)

Men’s Platform Prelims / 11:30 a.m.

Conor Gesing

* Round 1 – 61.10
* Round 2 – 64.50 / 125.60
* Round 3 – 55.80 / 181.40
* Round 4 – 54.25 / 235.65
* Round 5 – 63.80 / 299.45
* Round 6 – 37.70 / 337.15 | 5th place

Skip Donald

* Round 1 – 58.50
* Round 2 – 50.40/ 108.90
* Round 3 – 31.50 / 140.40
* Round 4 – 54.00 / 194.40
* Round 5 – 68.80 / 263.20
* Round 6 – 52.80 / 316.00 | 10th Place

Men’s Platform B Final / 1:40 p.m.

Skip Donald – Fourth Place

* Round 1 – 48.00
* Round 2 – 57.60/ 105.60
* Round 3 – 57.00 / 162.60
* Round 4 – 48.00 / 210.60
* Round 5 – 52.80 / 263.20
* Round 6 – 65.60 / 329.00

5:30 p.m. Finals

Women’s 200 Butterfly

Championship Final

* 1. Bella Sims – 1:51.45
* 4. Zoe Dixon – 1:54.99
* 7. Lainy Kruger – 1:56.09

B Final

* 5. Amanda Ray – 1:57.07

Men’s 200 Butterfly

Championship Final

* 4. Joaquin Gonzalez Pinero – 1:41.33
* 6. Mason Laur – 1:42.32

B Final

* 7. Billy Jones – 1:44.63

Women’s 100 Backstroke

Championship Final

* 1. Izzy Ivey – 50.40
* 5. Aris Runnels – 51.71
* 7. Carly Meeting – 52.54

B Final

* 10. Catie Choate – 52.13

Men’s 100 Backstroke

Championship Final

* 1. Jonny Marshall – 44.12
* 2. Adam Chaney – 44.87

B Final

* 2. Scotty Buff – 45.29

Women’s 100 Breaststroke

Championship Final

* 8. Molly Mayne – 59.83

B Final

* 8. Olivia Peoples – 1:00.99

C Final

* 3. Grace Rainey – 1:01.01

Men’s 100 Breaststroke

Championship Final

* 1. Aleksas Savickas – 51.01
* T2. Julian Smith – 51.26

C Final

* Peter Bretzmann – 53.81

Men’s Platform A Final

Conor Gesing – 7th place

* Round 1 – 59.80
* Round 2 – 32.50/ 92.30
* Round 3 – 63.00 / 155.30
* Round 4 – 46.20 / 246.60
* Round 5 – 67.20 / 313.80
* Round 6 – 56.55 / 321.90

Women’s 400 Medley Relay

A Relay Team – Silver – 3:24.92

* B. Sims (50.07), M. Mayne (58.88), O. Peoples (50.12) I. Ivey (46.- 3:25.16

Men’s 400 Medley Relay

A Relay Team – Gold – 3:00.49

* J. Marshall (45.13), A.Savickas(51.17), J. Liendo (42.77), M. McDuff (41.42)

Championship Schedule (CT)

Saturday, Feb. 24

9:30 a.m. Prelims

Women’s 200 Backstroke

Men’s 200 Backstroke

Women’s 100 Freestyle