Gators sweep SEC Swimming & Diving titles for first time since ’93
For the ninth time in program history, and the first time since 1992-93, the Florida Gators men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams won SEC Championships during the same season.
The No. 5 Florida men grabbed their 11th consecutive SEC Championship Saturday night, scoring 1488.5 points. This title marks the 44th SEC Championship in program history, the second-most by any SEC team across all sports. The Gators are only the third team in the history of the SEC Championships to reach 11 consecutive titles (Florida – 13 from 1955-1968; Auburn – 16 from 1996-2012).
For the first time since 2009, the No. 6 Florida women are SEC Champions. The Gators racked up 1255 points en route to the 18th conference title in school history.
For head coach Anthony Nesty, Saturday marked his fifth-straight men’s title, and his first women’s title at the helm of Florida swimming. Nesty, who is in his second season as both the men’s and women’s head coach, is the second coach in UF history to win a men’s title and women’s title in the same season, joining Randy Reese, who did it five times (1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, and 1990).
“It’s rewarding for the entire program,” Nesty said on winning a women’s title. “We started in August with everyone getting here. Change is never easy, but our women raced well. We swam relays well. Now we just have to get ready for NCAA’s and have a great summer after that.
“Have to give the men a lot of credit, doing it again for 11 years in a row. It’s just credit to these guys and credit to the program and all the Gators out there.”
These titles give Florida its 257th and 258th SEC Championships, a league high. UF has won at least one SEC team title for 45 consecutive season — the league’s longest current streak.
Florida is the first SEC school to win both the men’s and women’s title in the same season in 15 years (Auburn, 2008). The Gators have now won 11 or more consecutive conference championships in four occasions in three different sports.
Medals and records for Gators
The Gators earned 30 medals during the week, including ten gold, ten silvers and ten bronzes. Joshua Liendo racked up six medals in his first ever SEC Championships, while Emma Weyant and Ekaterina Nikonova paced the women’s side with three each.
Florida set 14 records during the week; two SEC records, six school records. four meet records and two pool records.
The 400 Medley Relay team of Adam Chaney, Dillon Hillis, Joshua Liendo and Macguire McDuff set a SEC, meet, and school record 2:59.48 during Friday night’s finals’ session, flirting with the NCAA all-time record of 2:59.22. They’ll get one more crack at it during the NCAA Championships next month in Minneapolis.
Freshman Aleksas Savickas smashed the SEC, Meet, Pool, and School record in the 200 breast, cruising to a 1:50.08. With that time, he now has the second-fastest in the country.
Teams with 11 or more consecutive SEC championships
| 18 | Florida | Volleyball | 1991-2008 |
| 17 | Arkansas | Men’s Cross Country | 1991-2007 |
| 16 | Auburn | Men’s Swimming & Diving | 1997-2012 |
| 15 | Tennessee | Men’s Outdoor Track & Field | 1964-1978 |
| 13 | Florida | Men’s Swimming & Diving | 1956-1968 |
| 11 | Florida | Women’s Swimming & Diving | 1986-1996 |
| 11 | Florida | Men’s Swimming & Diving | 2013-2023 |
Special to Gators Online
Not a member? Join Gators Online!
Have you subscribed to GatorsOnline.com? You can sign up now for $29.99, which gets you premium access until Aug. 31, 2023! Or, you can also get monthly access for just $9.99 per month. Get access to premium articles covering the University of Florida athletics, recruiting content and also join thousands of Gators fans on the Swamp Talk message board! CLICK HERE to join Gators Online!
