Florida records three Top-10 times in program history.
ATHENS, Ga. – After a 12-event finals session, the No. 6 Florida men’s team leads the way with 339.5 points, while the No. 9 women’s team is in second at 294, trailing by just 33 points following the opening day of the Georgia Invitational.
The Gators placed three times that ranked among the best in program history Thursday night, led by Joshua Liendo’s blistering 50 free time of 18.83, the third-fastest by a Gator, only behind Adam Chaney’s 18.75 from last season and Caeleb Dressel’s NCAA record 17.63. The freshman from Canada had previously had the sixth-fastest time in school history at 19.27.
The top 200 free relay team in Florida history of Katie Mack, Ekaterina Nikonova, Talia Bates, and Mikayla Cronk nearly broke their school record tonight, recording a 1:27.75, just off the 1:27.16 from last season, for an A-cut time. The men’s 200 free relay team of Chaney, Liendo, Macguire McDuff, and Eric Friese recorded the sixth-fastest time in Gators history at 1:15.98, finishing first with an A-cut time.
Florida finished the evening with five wins, five A-cut times, and 38 B-cut times.
Finals:
Women’s 200 Free Relay
Florida secured the top spot, as the team of Katie Mack, Ekaterina Nikonova, Talia Bates, and Mikayla Cronk shaved nearly three seconds off their entry time, winning the event with a 1:27.75, flirting with their 1:27.16 school record time set last season.
Men’s 200 Free Relay
The team of Adam Chaney, Josh Liendo, Macguire McDuff, and Eric Friese dropped 2.85 seconds off their entry time, swimming the sixth-fastest time in program history with a 1:15.98 to win the event.
Women’s 500 Free
Mabel Zavaros claimed the top spot, swimming a 4:39.28 to narrowly beat out teammate Tylor Mathieu, who finished second at 4:40.23.
Men’s 500 Free
Oskar Lindholm shaved over a second off his prelim time to finish third at 4:14.97. In the B-final, Alfonso Mestre swam a 4:11.03 to finish with the second-best time of the night, and an A-cut.
Women’s 200 IM
Just like they did in the prelims, Zoe Dixon and Kathleen Golding finished in second and third, respectively, both finishing with B-cut times. Dixon touched the wall in 1:57.20, with Golding right behind her at 1:57.26.
Men’s 200 IM
Florida went three-four-five, led by Julian Smith who touched the wall in 1:43.47. Kevin Vargas’ time of 1:43.73 put him in fourth, while Joaquin Gonzalez Pinero finished fifth at 1:44.05. All three secured B-cut times.
Women’s 50 Free
The Gators placed four in the top-seven, led by Katie Mack’s 22.18 time and second place finish and Talia Bates’ 22.30 time and third place finish. Ekaterina Nikonova finished fifth at 22.41, while Micayla Cronk tallied a 22.73 and seventh place finish. Mack, Bates, and Nikonova all finished with B-cuts.
Men’s 50 Free
Joshua Liendo followed up his swift prelim with an 18.84 time and finished top-spot in one of the most competitive races of the night, with 12 swimmers finishing sub-20 seconds. Macguire McDuff set a career-best 19.11 to finish second, while Adam Chaney was third at 19.23. Alberto Mestre came in seventh at 19.54, while Eric Friese was 19.99 to round out the A-final. Liendo had the only A-cut time of the night, while McDuff, Chaney, and Mestre all collected B-cuts.
Women’s 400 Medley Relay
The team of Talia Bates, Tylor Mathieu, Olivia Peoples, and Ekaterina Nikonova finished fourth with a 3:34.52 to improve their seed time by nearly four seconds. The tandem of Katie Mack, Camille DeBoer, Allison Piccirillo, and Georgia Bates came in 12th at 3:44.60.
Men’s 400 Medley Relay
In the final event of the night, Florida’s Adam Chaney, Julian Smith, Eric Friese, and Josh Liendo comeback bid fell short, but finished second with an A-cut time of 3:04.98, just nearly missing a top-10 time in program history. Florida’s B relay squad of Cam Abaqueta, Aleksas Savickas, Jace Crawford, Macguire McDuff recorded a 3:08.41 for a fourth-place finish. The team of Joaquin Gonzalez Pinero, Dillon Hillis, Billy Jones, and Alberto Mestre finished 12th at 3:11.61.
Women’s 1-meter diving
Carina Lumia claimed first in the A-final with a 275.80, while Maha Amer finished with the top score of 353.80 to finish first in the B-final.
Men’s 3-meter diving
Skip Donald posted a 326.95 to finish third in the B-final, 11th overall, while Elisha Dees finished 14th (306.30) and Anton Svirskyi came in 15th (303.65).
Prelims:
Women’s 500 Free
Mabel Zavaros led the way during the first race of the day, finishing in 4:41.59 to finish second in the field. Tylor Mathieu touched the wall in 4:43.90 to finish sixth, while Elise Bauer’s time of 4:44.98 gave her the final spot in the A final.
Men’s 500 Free
Florida had 10 swimmers in the event, having three finish in the top-10 of the over forty-person field. Oskar Lindholm led the way with a sixth-place finish and a time of 4:16.60.
Women’s 200 IM
Zoe Dixon and Kathleen Golding finished two-three, with Dixon touching the wall in 1:57.95 and Golding in 1:58.04.
Men’s 200 IM
Julian Smith took the top prelim spot with a time of 1:44.03, ahead of Joaquin Gonzalez Pinero who came in second at 1:44.25. Kevin Vargas finished sixth with a time of 1:45.27.
Women’s 50 Free
The Gators finished three in the top-five, as Katie Mack finished in second with a time of 22.36, one spot ahead of Ekaterina Nikonova’s 22.40 time. Talia Bates finished fifth with a 22.52, while Micayla Cronk’s seventh place finish at 22.68 put her in the A final.
Men’s 50 free
Joshua Liendo recorded the third-fastest time in school history, clocking an 18.83 for top spot in the prelims. Macguire McDuff finished second, touching the wall in 19.18. Adam Chaney’s 19.42 put him in fifth, while Alberto Mestre advanced to the A final with a 19.51 and seventh-place finish.
Scores – Women
Women – Team Rankings – Through Event 12
1. Auburn 327
2. Florida 294
3. Georgia 265
4. Florida State 188
5. Georgia Tech 153
Scores – Men
Men – Team Rankings – Through Event 12
1. Florida 339.5
2. Auburn 322
3. Georgia 290
4. Florida State 192.5
5. Georgia Tech 96
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