UF wins 2023 SEC Swimming & Diving Championships

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (February 18, 2023) – Florida’s men’s and women’s programs have won the 2023 SEC Swimming & Diving Championships, held at Texas A&M’s Rec Center Natatorium.

Florida captured its 18th overall SEC title in women’s swimming & diving, its first title since 2009, with a final score of 1255 points. Tennessee finished second with 950.5 points. The Gators won their 11th straight title and 44th in boys swimming & diving with a total score of 1488.5 points. Auburn claimed second place with 1089.5 points.

The Commissioner’s Cup, awarded to the student-athlete with the most points at the championship, went to LSU’s Maggie MacNeil on the women’s side and Tennessee’s Jordan Crooks and Bryden Hattie and Texas A&M’s Baylor Nelson on the men’s side. . MacNeil and Crooks were also named SEC Swimmers of the Meet. South Carolina’s Hattie and Brooke Schultz were selected as the SEC Divers of the Meet.

Alabama’s Kensey McMahon won her second SEC title in the women’s 1650 free, with a top time of 15:47.02. Tennessee earned the next two podium finishes as Aly Breslin finished second with a time of 15:52.71 and Kristen Stege took third with a time of 15:53.47.

Kentucky’s Levi Sandidge became the first Wildcat in program history to win the men’s 1650 free, touching the wall first with a time of 14:31.47. Georgia’s Jake Magahey finished second in 14:38.45, while Florida’s Tyler Watson took third in 14:38.50.

In the women’s 200, LSU’s Ella Varga became the first Tiger in program history to win gold, with a personal best time of 1:51.74. Second place went to Josephine Fuller of Tennessee with a time of 1:52.21, and Caitlin Brooks of Kentucky took third with a time of 1:52.38.

Georgia’s Bradley Dunham touched the wall first in the men’s 200 back with a time of 1:39.27. Nelson was second with a time of 1:39.79, followed by Jack Dahlgren of Missouri with a time of 1:39.80.

MacNeil set a pool record with a win in the women’s 100 free (46.27). Alabama’s Kalia Antonoiu was second (47.46), and Florida’s Ekate Nikonova was third (47.97).

Crooks finished first in the men’s 100 free with a time of 41.19. He was followed by Florida’s Josh Liendo (41.24) and Tennessee’s Guilherme Santos (41.55).

Mona McSharry of Tennessee recorded the third-fastest time in the nation to take the women’s 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:05.11. Georgia’s Zoie Hartman took second with a time of 2:05.48, and Alabama’s Avery Wiseman was third with a time of 2:05.85.

Florida’s Aleks Savickas set SEC and SEC Meet records when he won the men’s 200 breaststroke with a time of 1:50.08. Fellow Gator Dillon Hillis finished second with a time of 1:51.14, while Tennessee’s Lyubomir Epitropov took third with a time of 1:51.83.

Hattie won the men’s platform with a final score of 457.10. Manny Vazquez Bas of South Carolina was in second place with a score of 432.75, and Leonard Garcia of Florida took third place with a score of 418.65.

LSU captured gold in the women’s 400 free relay with Katarina Milutinovich, MacNeil, Miaela De Villiers and Megan Barnes posting a combined time of 3:10.57. Second place went to Florida (3:10.83) and third place to Arkansas (3:13.60).

To close out the meet, Tennessee finished first in the men’s 400 free relay, as Guilherme Santos, Crooks, Bjoern Kamman and Aleksey Tarasenko recorded a pool record time of 2:46.25. Florida was runner up with a time of 2:46.42, and Georgia took third place with a time of 2:49.06.