Florida's Conor Gesing dives into the water during the meet against FSU at the O'Connell Center Natatorium on Friday. [Kaley Mantz/ WRUF]

Florida Swim and Dive Defeats FSU in Regular-Season Finale

The Florida swim and dive team Gators swept Florida State in another installment of the Sunshine State Showdown on Friday.

Florida reclaimed the throne after the loss to Florida State last year to enter the postseason on a high note.

Final Scores:

Men: 202-93

Women: 186-110

The men’s program extended the all-time record against Florida State to 63-24-1, while the women improve to 49-4.

Freshman Ahmed Jaouadi and senior Josh Liendo led the men with individual points of 27 and 18, respectively. Both made NCAA cut times, with Jaouadi in the 500-yard free as well as the 1650 and Liendo in the 100 and 200 butterfly.

As for the women, diver Camyla Monroy and breaststroke specialist Anita Bottazzo each came away with 18 individual points for the Gators. Monroy earned victories in the one and three-meter events, scoring 316.50 and 369.00, respectively. Aside from her sweep of the breaststroke races, Bottazzo also swam on the 400-yard IM and free relays, where Florida clinched top-finishes in both.

Swimming at the Florida Aquatics Swimming & Training Facility in Ocala

Gio Linscheer, coming in second only to his teammate in the 1650 free, finished with a time of 14:57.58 to join Jaouadi at the NCAAs for this event. Michaela Mattes touched the wall first in the women’s race, swimming it in 16:07.73 and becoming a national qualifier, as well.

The Gators’ backstroke duo of Jonny Marshall and Aiden Norman secured a couple of first-place finishes and NCAA cut times to complete the sweep in the 100 (46.04) and 200-yard events (1:40.99), respectively.

Florida’s women totaled 11 swimming victories on the day, including Zuri Ferguson’s win in the 200 back, Lainy Kruger’s in the 100 free, Grace Rabb’s in the 100 fly, Camille DeBoer’s in the 500 free and Sofia Plaza’s in the 400 IM.

Florida went 4-0 on the relay events, with the men’s 200-yard medley squad qualifying for the NCAA Championships. The team of Marshall, Koen de Groot, Scotty Buff, and Liendo made the cut with a time of 1:23.38.

Florida diver Jesus Agundez Mora flies through the air against FSU at the O’Connell Center Natatorium on Friday. [Kaley Mantz/WRUF]

Diving in the O’Connell Center Natatorium

Jesus Agundez Mora scored a meet-high 394.50 in the men’s one-meter dive and earned himself a third-place finish in the three-meter. Conor Gesing, the runner-up in the one-meter, claimed the three-meter title with 407.48 points. Together, they tallied 25 team points for Florida.

Alexa Fung and Casey Greenberg, who finished third in the one-meter (284.03) and three-meter (296.40), respectively, produced in the women’s events.

Reflecting on his athletes and their overall success, UF dive coach Bryan Gillooly put it plain and simple: “We’re having fun, we’re enjoying what we’re doing.”

On Saturday, seniors Greenberg, Elisha Dees and Peyton Donald were celebrated prior to the first dive for their commitment and accomplishments as student-athletes. The stands were fill with families, swimmers, and diving alumni as the Gators competed in the five and 10-meter platform events (not counting toward the dual meet scores).

“The work is done, so now we just need to get into the right mindset going into the [SEC] Championships,” Gillooly said.

Florida’s Casey Greenburg jumps off the 3-meter diving board during the meet against FSU at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center Natatorium on Friday. [Kaley Mantz/WRUF]

Up Next

Florida directs its focus toward the SEC Championships. The Gators seek redemption from last season, when both teams fell short of the conference title. The competition begins in Knoxville, Tenn., on Feb. 16.

Category: Gators Swimming and Diving, NCAA, SEC, University of Florida