Florida breaks nearly 14-year old record after coming up just short at SECs
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Florida Gators 200 free relay team of Joshua Liendo, Adam Chaney, Eric Friese and Macguire McDuff smashed the NCAA, US Open, Meet, School and Pool record, defending their title on the second night of the 2023 NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships.
The previous record, set by Auburn in 2009, stood no chance Thursday night at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center. After coming just .08 seconds of the record at the SEC Championships, the Gators set out to make history. Liendo led off the event, opening up with a blistering leadoff split of 18.22 that gave Florida the lead. Adam Chaney (18.37) and Eric Friese (18.64) kept the Gators within pace of the record, but Macguire McDuff’s 18.12 anchor leg put the four into a category of their own. McDuff’s final split was tied for the fastest split in the race, as the Gators clobbered the old NCAA record by .73 of a second.
“It’s something we’ve been talking about in practice, and we’ve been working towards this,” Liendo said. “To see everyone stand up and give their best, it was great to watch and be a part of.”
Florida had flirted with the record, including last year’s 1:14.11 and the winning 1:14.19 time at SECs last month. Despite the buzz, Florida stay dialed in on the historic pursuit.
“We could feel (the pressure) this meet, especially after how fast we went at SECs,” Chaney said. “We have never taken a relay this serious. This afternoon has been pretty crazy, the pressure was on. It was great to see us accomplish what we wanted to do.”
In the individual events, Liendo secured national runner up in the 50 free, clocking an 18.40, his third-fastest time of the season to end an historic freshman campaign. The Canadian Olympian is the fastest 50 free freshman swimmer in NCAA history after registering a 18.35 at last month’s SEC Championships.
The Florida duo of Jake Mitchell and Alfonso Mestre got the Gators started, finishing fifth and eighth, respectively, in the top final of the 500 free. Mitchell pumped it into gear on the final leg, swimming a 24.49 to scoot into the top-five.
Julian Smith, the lone Gator in the 200 IM finals, clocked a 1:42.79 to earn his first career-individual All-American honors. The St. Augustine native also won All-American honors in the 800 free relay last night.
Leonardo Garcia earned honorable mention All-American in the 1-meter to start off his week, scoring a 328.15 in the B-final to finish 15th, earning two points towards the team score. It was the Cali, Colombia native’s highest finish in the event at NCAAs, and his fifth All-American honor of his career.
500 Free Prelims
Alfonso Mestre took the top time for the Gators, clocking a 4:10.78, as he and Jake Mitchell, 4:11.65, posted times to qualify for the A-final. Eric Brown just missed the B-final, finishing at 4:14.21 for 17th. Tyler Watson placed 21st with a 4:15.01, while Gio Linscheer finished 26th, touching the wall in 4:16.06. Oskar Lindhom’s 4:16.30 put him in 28th during the morning session.
200 IM Prelims
Julian Smith went 1:42.08, lowering his seed time by nearly half a second to earn a spot in the B-final. Joaquin Gonzalez Pinero finished 25th at 1:43.05, while Dillon Hillis’ 1:43.31 slotted him in 29th. Mason Laur swam a personal-best 1:44.36 for 39th.
50 Free
Joshua Liendo continued his scorching freshman season, going 18.54 to finish third and advance to the A final. Macguire McDuff went 19.05 to tie for 17th, while Adam Chaney and Alberto Mestre both clocked 19.10 to finish in a tie for 19th.
1-Meter
Leonardo Garcia’s fifth dive of 72.00 vaulted him into the B-final, finishing the prelims with a 356.20 at 11th. Skip Donald finished tied for 40th with a score of 303.50, including two dives that tallied over 61 from the judges.
All-American Tracker
200 Medley Relay – Chaney, Savickas, Friese, Liendo
800 Free Relay – McDuff, Mitchell, Alf. Mestre, Smith
500 Free – Jake Mitchell, Alfonso Mestre
50 Free – Joshua Liendo
200 Free Relay – Liendo, Chaney, Friese, McDuff (NCAA, US Open, Meet, School, Pool Record)
Honorable Mention
1-meter – Leonardo Garcia
200 IM – Julian Smith
2023 NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships Standings:
1. California – 184 points
2. Texas – 165 points
3. Arizona State – 154 points
4. NC State – 151.5 points
5. Florida – 145 points
6. Indiana – 99 points
7. Tennessee – 87 points
8. Stanford – 74 points
9. Auburn – 57 points
10. Louisville – 55 points
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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