The Florida men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams completed the final day of the SEC Championships Sunday night at Texas A&M University.
The men’s team won its sixth straight SEC Championship in dominant fashion, winning by over 200 points. The men scored a total of 1237 points, second-place Georgia had 975.5 points.
The men’s team added three more victories on Sunday. The first was by senior Caeleb Dressel in the 100-yard freestyle event, whose time of 41.01 set a new SEC record. His performance comes on the heels of setting a new American record in the 100 breast with a time of 50.03.
“I think I’m in a good spot right now,” Dressel said. “I think we’re in a good spot as a team.”
Another victory on Sunday came in the men’s 200-yard breaststroke when senior Mark Szaranek won with a time of 1:51:86.
“This is the second time I’ve ever swam the 200 breaststroke, I swam faster than I thought I would ever go,” Szaranek said. “It’s been four years that I’ve wanted to win one of these SEC championships. I’m glad to get it done in my last event.”
The men also won the 400-yard freestyle relay, which was the final event of the championships. Dressel, Szaranek and sophomores Khader Baqlah and Maxime Rooney combined for the victory.
The women finished in seventh place with 619 points. Freshman Taylor Ault had a strong performance in the 1650-yard freestyle, where she finished in second place behind freshman Courtney Harnish of Georgia.
The Gators come home for the Florida Invitational Last Chance starting on Friday, Feb. 23 at the O’Connell Center. The NCAA Championships start on March 21 in Minnesota.
A TV broadcast contributed to this report.
Follow Jacob McManamon on Twitter @jmcmanamon97 and contact him at jmcmanamon@alligator.org.
The Gators men's and women's swimming and diving teams begin SEC play against LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, today. The meet was postponed due to Hurricane Michael.
