Florida’s men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs ended their home seasons with a sweep of the Florida Atlantic Owls. The No. 4 men (4-1) won 209-77, while the No. 8 women (5-1) earned a 207-83 victory.
Both teams continued their success in Gainesville. The women’s team won its 17th straight competition at home, and the men’s team won its 15th in a row. Florida remained undefeated against FAU, sporting a perfect 46-0 record against the Owls.
2020 Olympic silver medalist Emma Weyant made her Gators debut after transferring from Virginia. The freshman finished the day with three B-cut times. Weyant finished first in the 200 and 500-meter freestyle and 400-meter individual medley.
Florida won every event on its senior day, sending out its 18 seniors with a dominant final home victory.
Several of its seniors finished with individual victories. Senior Tylor Mathie dominated the women’s 1,000-meter freestyle with a 9:49.17 time, 10 seconds ahead of the field. Allie Piccirillo won the women’s 200-meter butterfly with a 2:00.57 time and Katie Mack won the women’s 100-meter freestyle with a 50.30 time.
Men’s seniors Alberto Mestre and Nicholas Hernandez-Tome walked away victorious. Mestre finished first in the 100-meter and 200-meter free and as part of the 400-meter freestyle relay. Hernandez-Tome took first place in the 500-meter freestyle.
Senior Brennan Gravely comfortably won the men’s 1000-meter freestyle, finishing 15 seconds ahead of the field with a time of 9:10.48.
Two more Gators joined Weyant with B-cut times. Sophomore Olivia Peoples won the women’s 100-meter butterfly with a B-cut time of 53.52 and senior Kevin Vargas won the men’s 400-yard or meter individual medley with a B-cut time of 3:49.87.
Sophomore Aris Runnels won the women’s 100M Back, while freshman Cameron Abaqueta won on the men’s side. Freshman Jessica Strong narrowly edged out fellow freshman Anna Moore in the women’s 100-meter breaststroke, and graduate student Dillon Hillis took first place for the men.
Junior Jake Mitchell won the men’s 200-meter backstroke, and sophomore Raphael Rached Windmuller won the men’s 200-meter breaststroke with a sub-two minute 1:58.36. Sophomore Julian Smith finished first in three events: the men’s 50-meter freestyle, 100-meter butterfly and as part of the 400-meter freestyle relay.
Senior Leandro Garcia won the men’s 3-meter dive in his season debut with a score of 437.33, just three points off of a school record. He also finished second behind teammate senior Skip Donald in the 1 meter. Donald took first with a score of 348.60.
Redshirt senior Maha Amer won both the women’s 1-and 3-meter dives with scores of 311.63 and 328.13. She was the only diver to score over 300 in the women’s 3 meter.
Florida will host the Florida Diving Invitational Jan. 20 and will also face Florida State in Ocala on the same day. The diving invitational is scheduled for 11 a.m. The showdown with the Seminoles set for 2 p.m.
Contact Topher Adams at tadams@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter @Topher_Adams.
Topher Adams is a fourth-year communications major and in his fourth semester with the Alligator. He previously covered football, baseball and women's basketball. He also enjoys professional lacrosse and Major League Soccer.
