The 2020 Toyota US Open swim meet is set to begin on Thursday and will feature competition between elite swimmers in the southeast region, including 18 current and five former male Gators.
The meet will feature swimmers from high school, college, the US national team and clubs. This year’s US Open will be divided into nine locations throughout the country to limit travel due to COVID-19 concerns. The Gators will showcase their talent at the Selby Aquatic Center in Sarasota, Florida.
One Gator to watch in this three-day meet will be junior Kieran Smith. In last year’s US Open in Atlanta, Smith took the silver medal in the 400-meter freestyle, which he will also compete in this year.
Robert Finke is another Gator American-record holder competing in the meet. The junior will compete in the 1,500-meter freestyle after taking bronze in the event last year. He will also swim in the 800- and 400-meter freestyle races. Finke will compete in the 400-meter individual medley as well.
Former Gator and Olympian Ryan Lochte will also be competing in the meet in Sarasota as a member of the Gator Swim Club. The Gator alumnus will compete in the 200-meter individual medley, which he won bronze in last year, as well as the 200-meter freestyle, 100-meter backstroke, 200-meter backstroke and 100-meter freestyle races.
The other current Gators competing in the meet include Amro Al-Wir, Clark Beach, Ethan Beach, Miguel Cancel, Adam Chaney, Jorge Depassier, Mateusz Dubas, Trey Freeman, Eric Friese, Brennan Gravley, Nico Hernandez-Tome, Dillon Hillis, Alfonso Mestre, Advait Page, Kevin Vargas and Tyler Watson. The former Gators joining Lochte are Mitch D’Arrigo, Brett Fraser, Enzo Martinez-Scarpe and Grant Sanders.
The US Open starts Thursday, Nov. 12, at 5 p.m. and will continue through Saturday, Nov. 14. The status of the events is pending on the incoming Tropical Storm Eta.
Contact Sara Kate Dyson at skatedyson@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @sarakatedyson.
Former Gator Ryan Lochte competes in a time trial at the U.S national swimming championships in Stanford, California, Wednesday, July 31, 2019. Lochte is one of five former UF swimmers that will compete at the U.S. Open this weekend.
