Finke, Smith, Nesty Headline Gators in SEC Awards

Finke, Smith, Nesty Headline Gators in SEC Awards

Wednesday, April 10, 2019 | Men's Swimming & Diving

By: Chad Smith

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Southeastern Conference announced its annual men's swimming & diving awards to cap the 2018-19 season on Wednesday. Robert Finke, Kieran Smith, and Anthony Nesty paced the Gators in the post-season award list.

Finke and Smith both earned the SEC Freshman Swimmer of the Year for their spectacular performances at the SEC Championships. Finke was the SEC Champion in the 400 IM and 1,650 Free. Smith was the champion in the 200 IM, was a member of the 800 Free Relay that won the SEC title, and finished second in the 400 IM.

Nesty won an SEC Championship and continued the Florida winning streak to seven straight, which led to his SEC Male Swimming Coach of the Year award. During his first season as head coach he tallied four individual SEC Champions and one relay. The Gators also had five swimmers make First-Team All-SEC, six swimmers earned Second-Team All-SEC, and had five freshman claim All-Freshman team honors.

Finke collected First-Team All-SEC honors in the 400 IM and 1,650 Free. Smith picked up a First-Team All-SEC nod in the 200 IM and Maxime Rooney added a first-team accolade in the 100 Fly. The squad of Rooney, Smith, Trey Freeman, and Khader Baqlah claimed first-team honors with their combined effort in the 800 Free Relay. First team consists of the top finisher in each event at the SEC Championships.

Clark Beach, Will Davis, Marco Guarente, Bayley Main, Grant Sanders, and Kacper Stokowski all earned Second-Team All-SEC. Second team consists of the second- and third-place finishers in each event.

Clark Beach – 200 Back
Will Davis – 200 Free Relay, 200 Medley Relay
Marco Guarente – 100 Breast, 200 Medley Relay
Bayley Main – 200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay
Grant Sanders – 200 Breast, 400 IM
Kacper Stokowski – 100 back, 200 Medley Relay

Davis, Finke, Freeman, Smith and Stokowski also earned spots on the SEC All-Freshman Team list for their efforts throughout the championships. The All-Freshman Team consists of any redshirt or true freshman who finished either in the top eight or is the highest scoring freshman of each event at the SEC Championships, excluding relay events.

Male Swimmer of the Year: Robert Howard, Alabama
Co-Male Freshmen Swimmers of the Year: Robert Finke and Kieran Smith, Florida
Men's Swimming Coach of the Year: Anthony Nesty, Florida
Male Diver of the Year: Zhipeng (Colin) Zeng, Tennessee
Male Freshman Diver of the Year: Matthew Wade, Tennessee
Men's Diving Coach of the Year: Dave Parrington, Tennessee

All-SEC First Team
Khader Baqlah
Robert Finke
Trey Freeman
Maxime Rooney
Kieran Smith

All-SEC Second Team
Clark Beach
Will Davis
Marco Guarente
Bayley Main
Grant Sanders
Kacper Stokowski

All-Freshman Team
Will Davis
Robert Finke
Trey Freeman
Kieran Smith
Kacper Stokowski

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