Florida’s women’s swimming and diving team officially announced on Monday that it’s welcoming a new swimmer to the 2020-21 squad.
Katie Minnich, a junior transfer from the University of Michigan, will join the Gators once the spring semester rolls around. Minnich spent the entirety of her first two years of college swimming at Michigan. As a Wolverine, Minnich swam in the Big Ten Championships in her freshman and sophomore seasons. She competed in both the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke races in both meets as well as the 200-yard individual medley in 2019. However, she did not qualify for the NCAA Championships either year at Michigan.
Minnich’s strongest stroke is backstroke. She most frequently competes in the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke races.
Her career-best time in the 100-yard backstroke is 53.46 seconds, while her best in the 200-yard backstroke is 1:55.85. Both of these times were achieved at the 2020 Big Ten Swimming and Diving Championships where she qualified as a B-finalist in both races.
Unfortunately, Gator fans will not be able to see Minnich hit the pool in the first meet against the University of Georgia set for Oct. 30, as the transfer will not compete in a Gators swimsuit until January 2021.
In mid-September, the SEC announced that the SEC swimming and diving seasons will end no later than Jan. 25. Because of this, it is still possible that Gator fans will be able to cheer for the newest member of the team late this season.
Contact Sara Kate Dyson at skatedyson@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @sarakatedyson.
