After hours of tight competition, the No. 5/4 Florida men’s and women’s swim teams suffered 150-149 and 161-138 losses, respectively, to in-state rival Florida State.
UF and FSU face-off annually at the Florida Aquatics Swimming & Training Facility in Ocala, Florida, with this meet marking the 87th meeting for the men and the 52nd for the women.
The Gators only won 11 events, a stark difference from their 25-event win at Texas A&M on Jan. 17.
The women previously held a six-meet win streak over FSU.
Florida couldn’t grab first place in the opening event, the 200-yard medley relay.
The women’s A team of sophomore Catie Choate, freshman Anita Bottazzo, fifth-year Julia Heimstead and senior Micayla Cronk finished second with a time of 1:38.68. The B team was disqualified.
In the men’s event, the A team featuring sophomore Jonny Marshall, senior Julian Smith, sophomore Scotty Buff and junior Ed Fullum-Huot placed second with a time of 1:25.62. The B team followed in third place, while the C team finished in sixth.
In the women’s 1,650-yard freestyle, UF senior Anna Auld finished in first place, swimming a time of 16:37.86.
The men’s team swept the leaderboard in the 1,650-yard freestyle. UF freshman Luke Corey finished in first place, with sophomore Amadeusz Knop following in second place, sophomore Andrew Taylor in third and freshman Fred Lindholm in fourth.
The women’s team earned top-three finishes in the 200-yard freestyle, with sophomore Bella Sims claiming first place, senior Emma Weyant coming closely behind in second and sophomore Lainy Kruger in third place.
In the men’s 200-yard freestyle, junior Joshua Liendo finished first with a time of 1:35.29. Freshman Paul Dardis came in a close second, swimming 1:35.35.
The Gators struggled to get a first-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke events.
Sophomore Carly Meeting placed second for the women with a time of 53.44. Choate and Cronk followed in third and fourth, respectively.
Marshall finished in third place for the men, swimming a time of 47.72.
In the women’s 100-yard breaststroke, junior Anna Moore finished in third place, sophomore Molly Mayne came in fourth and freshman Sofia Plaza placed sixth.
Senior Raphael Rached Windmuller finished in first place in the men’s 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 53.83.
UF also fell to FSU in the 200-yard butterfly events. Heimstead finished in second for the women, swimming a time of 1:57.01, while senior Joaquin Gonzalez Pinero finished in second for the men, with a time of 1:45.29.
Sims earned the women’s only top-three finish in the 50-yard freestyle, placing third with a time of 23.07. Bottazzo placed sixth and Weyant followed in seventh.
The 50-yard freestyle also posed some problems for the men with only one top-three win. Smith finished in third place with a time of 19.90. Freshman Devin Dilger followed in fourth place, swimming 19.93.
In the women’s 100-yard freestyle, Sims came back to grab her first individual win of the day, swimming a time of 49.41.
Meanwhile, in the men’s 100-yard freestyle, Dilger placed second with a time of 43.25. Dardis came behind in third place, swimming a time of 43.70.
Choate and fifth-year Mabel Zavaros clinched first and second place, respectively, in the women’s 200-yard backstroke. In the men’s event, freshman Matt Cairns earned second place with a time of 1:44.14. Knop followed in third.
In the women’s 200-yard breaststroke, Moore finished in third place with a time of 2:14.20. Bottazzo came in right behind her with a 2:14.27 time for fourth place.
Windmuller earned his second win of the day with a first-place finish in the men’s 200-yard breaststroke, swimming a time of 1:56.67.
In the women’s 500-yard freestyle, Kruger grabbed her first win of the meet with a time of 4:53.87. Sophomore Jo Jo Ramey came in second, swimming at 4:55.12.
Corey and Taylor finished second and third, respectively, in the men’s 500-yard freestyle.
UF continued to struggle to place in the top three in the women’s 100-yard butterfly. Heimstead finished in fourth place, Bottazzo in sixth and Mayne in seventh.
In the men’s 100-yard butterfly, Liendo finished in second place, swimming with a time of 46.42. Buff placed fifth, Smith came in seventh and Marshall followed in eighth.
In the women’s 400-yard individual medley, Plaza finished in first place with a time of 4:19.84. This was her first win of the meet. Auld finished in third and sophomore Michaela Mattes came in fourth.
In the men’s 400-yard individual medley, Knop placed third, junior Eric Brown placed fourth and senior Mason Laur followed in fifth.
The meet closed with the 200-yard freestyle relay.
In the women’s race, the B team with Meeting, Moore, Weyant and Ramey finished in third place, swimming a time of 1:33.75. The A team was disqualified.
In the men’s race, the A team with Liendo, Smith, freshman Alex Painter and Fullum-Huot placed first with a time of 1:18.69. The B team came in third with a time of 1:19.65. The C team finished sixth.
The Gators will next travel to Athens, Georgia, to compete in the SEC Championships from Feb. 18 to Feb. 22.
Contact Isabella Sanin at isanin@alligator.org. Follow her on X at @BellaaSanin
Isabella is a senior sports journalism major and the Spring 2025 swim and dive reporter. This is her third semester at The Alligator. In her free time, she enjoys cheering on her favorite sports teams and baking.
