On the sixth and final day of SEC Championships, Florida double swept the conference.
In the women’s 200-yard back, freshman Bella Sims claimed gold with a time of 1:49.04.
UF freshman Jonny Marshall placed first in the men’s 200 back, breaking the program’s record with a time of 1:36.68.
“I’m really thankful to have broken the record today, " Marshall said. “I’m excited to have the medal but am looking forward to NCAAs and Olympic Trials after that. I need to stay focused and let this build my confidence, but also not let it consume me.”
Junior Micayla Cronk secured second in the women’s 100 freestyle. In the men’s event, sophomore Josh Liendo grabbed gold with a time of 40.82 seconds .
“I knew it was going to be a tight race,” Liendo said. “I knew it wasn’t going to be easy because it never is. I just trusted my training, trusted the process and made sure I was getting the details right. In the end, it worked out.”
Sophomore Aleksas Savickas snatched silver in the men’s 200 breaststroke, finishing in 1:50.42 seconds.
Freshman Camyla Monroy earned gold in the women’s platform final with a score of 312.70 points.
Junior Carina Lumia placed third in the women’s platform B final with a score of 226.50 points. Sophomore Casey Greenberg placed 19th in the preliminaries, not qualifying for either finals.
In the women’s 1650-yard heats, junior Emma Weyent placed second in 15:54.62, recording the sixth best program time. In the men’s event, freshman Andrew Taylor achieved gold with a time of 14:38.41 seconds, the fourth best time in program history. Sophomore Giovanni Linscheer followed in second with a time of 14:38.78 seconds.
Florida’s relay team in the women’s 400 free consisted of freshman Lainy Kruger, senior Isabel Ivey, Cronk and Ivey. All contributed to a first place finish time of 3:08.00 seconds.
The men’s relay team of Liendo, Chaney, Smith and McDuff finished in 2:45.31, grabbing first place.
“It’s always great to come to the SEC Championship and win, " Florida head coach Anthony Nest said.
Next, Florida will compete in the Women’s and Men’s Swimming and Diving NCAA Championships. The women’s championships will take place in Athens, Georgia from March 20-23. The men’s championships will be held in Indianapolis, Indiana from March 27-30.
Contact Shaine Davison at sdavison@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @shainedavison.
