KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 5 Florida men and No. 17 Florida women each moved up in the standings on Day 2 of the SEC Championships. The men skyrocketed up to first place with 477 points, while the women advanced to fifth place, registering 287 points.
Florida tallied three medals on the evening – one gold (men’s 200 free relay), one silver (Kieran Smith) and one bronze (Adam Chaney).
The women’s 200 freestyle relay team of Talia Bates, Katie Mack, Ekaterina Nikonova and Micayla Cronk kicked off the finals session with an A-cut time of 1:28.15, tying the fifth-fastest swim in program history. Mack led the way with a 21.65 split, while the rest of the splits shook out as follows: Nikonova (22.02), Bates (22.23) and Cronk (22.25).
The first medal of the night was one to write home about, with the men’s 200 freestyle relay team of Adam Chaney, Eric Friese, Kieran Smith and Macguire McDuff notching not only the fastest time in the nation this season, but both an SEC meet record and a pool record with a time of 1:15.18. That A-cut qualifying time is the fourth-fastest in program history.
The women had an incredibly strong showing in the 500 free, with Tylor Mathieu (4:39.51) and Elise Bauer (4:40.82) finishing 4-5 with B-cut qualifying times in the championship final. In the C-Final, Amanda Ray posted a 20th-place finish with a time of 4:44.96, while Leah Braswell (4:47.05) and Leah DeGeorge (4:47.51) went 23-24 to round out the point-scorers for Florida.
The men had seven swimmers competing in the 500 free final, including an astounding five in the championship final. Kieran Smith led the field with a second-place finish, earning him a spot on the podium with a 4:10.15 A-cut swim. He was followed by Alfonso Mestre (4:13.35) and Trey Freeman (4:13.38), who each recorded B-cuts in the event.
Rounding out the Gators in the 500 free championship final were Oksar Lindholm and Tyler Watson, who went 7-8 with B-cut swims of 4:15.97 and 4:16.86, respectively. Nicholas Hernandez-Tome posted a second-place finish in the B-Final with a time of 4:16.79, while Jack VanDeusen claimed the top spot in the C-Final with a swim of 4:17.65.
Kathleen Golding touched the wall second in the C final of the 200 IM, posting a B-cut of 1:57.63 in the event.
On the men’s side, three Gators scored points and registered B-cuts across the consolation finals in the 200 IM. Kevin Vargas recorded a time of 1:44.78, good for fifth in the B-Final, followed by Joaquin Gonzalez in sixth (1:45.03). Julian Smith finished second in the C-Final, posting a time of 1:44.58 to score for the Gators.
The women’s 50 free was led by a stellar 22.01 showing in the B-Final from Talia Bates, good for first in the final and ninth overall. Katie Mack followed that up with a fifth-place finish in the B-Final, swimming 22.34. Florida’s also got a tremendous showing from Ekaterina Nikonova in the C-Final, who touched the wall first with a time of 22.16.
The Gators closed out night two strong in the men’s 50 free, with Chaney earning his first individual medal of the championships. His swim of 18.81 secured him the bronze and hit the A-cut qualifying standard. McDuff (19.15) and Alberto Mestre (19.44) followed in the championship final, finishing fifth and sixth, respectively. Friese touched the wall first in the B-Final, notching a time of 19.23 to secure 20 points for Florida.
Results can be followed live here<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__utsports.com_sports_2022_1_25_2022-2Dsec-2Dswimming-2Ddiving-2Dchampionships-2Dcentral.aspx&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=s3yV_DT0-y-459FuorxjxlWD3SiM6bP2woINpoX0LUIs2cJAE82PBUJDXfPMZU-O&s=dCqTgFyvL69FAnhqpbH6gPoKOVEmQUA5CmA1xZYsAv0&e= > and full results will be posted at the conclusion of competition each day at FloridaGators.com.
Gators on the Podium:
* Men’s 200 freestyle relay (Chaney, Friese, Smith, McDuff) – Gold Medal – 1:15.18
* SEC Meet record, pool record
* Kieran Smith – 500 free – Silver Medal – 4:10.15
* Adam Chaney – 50 free – Bronze Medal
Standings – Men:
1. Florida – 497
2. Texas A&M – 360
3. Alabama – 358
4. Tennessee – 338.5
5. Georgia – 308
6. Auburn – 307
7. Kentucky – 277
7. LSU – 277
9. Missouri – 269
10. South Carolina – 202.5
Standings – Women:
1. Tennessee – 467.5
2. Georgia – 373
3. Alabama – 367
4. Kentucky – 299
5. Florida – 287
6. Texas A&M – 236
1. Auburn – 208
2. Missouri – 206.5
3. LSU – 202
4. South Carolina – 188
5. Arkansas – 163
6. Vanderbilt – 90
What They’re Saying:
Adam Chaney (Florida), Men’s 200 Free Relay
“We had some people out but with this group of guys, especially the freshman coming in and stepping up on that relay, it was awesome. I can’t even describe how it felt.”
Broadcast Information:
* Live results will be available the entire meet through UTsports.com<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__sidearmstats.com_utennessee_swimming_&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=s3yV_DT0-y-459FuorxjxlWD3SiM6bP2woINpoX0LUIs2cJAE82PBUJDXfPMZU-O&s=1C35yV1R9gCqWYuLMYJxTl_fXOIAmq6PwY36F3k8KYo&e= > or the Meet Mobile app
* Diving results can also be found here<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__secure.meetcontrol.com_divemeets_system_meetresultsext.php-3Fmeetnum-3D7783&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=s3yV_DT0-y-459FuorxjxlWD3SiM6bP2woINpoX0LUIs2cJAE82PBUJDXfPMZU-O&s=oz19WLSVl6FOWp37i7hg4FaC9B-7tdeGlz0Lcq3UESU&e= >
* All prelims and finals over the course of the championship competition will be streamed on SECN+<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.espn.com_watch_catalog_904ff2f3-2D3ce3-2D3b9e-2Dbca9-2D3608ec5f616b_swimming-2Dand-2Ddiving-23bucketId-3D29774-26sourceCollection-3DBrowse-5FBy-5FSport-5FNew&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=s3yV_DT0-y-459FuorxjxlWD3SiM6bP2woINpoX0LUIs2cJAE82PBUJDXfPMZU-O&s=AylmjPZ-5cIRbieqr32nknowvmpHX8uYQk8rNtb_AEU&e= >
Next Up:
* The Gators are right back in action on Thursday, with prelims beginning at 9:30 a.m.
* Prelim schedule: 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, women’s 3m diving (12 p.m.)
* Finals are slated for a 5:30 p.m. start
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