Gators Climb to Sixth Place Following Day Two of NCAA Championships

Thursday, March 27

Federal Way, Washington

Prelims at 1 p.m. | Finals at 9 p.m. | One-meter prelims at 3 p.m.

Florida Gators

NCAA Championships

Florida's Josh Liendo recorded his third-straight top-two finish in the 50 free on day two of the 2025 NCAA Division I Championships.

Gators Climb to Sixth Place Following Day Two of NCAA Championships

Thursday, March 27, 2025 | Men's Swimming & Diving

Thursday Final Results Thursday Prelim Results Men's Championship Central Photo Gallery

By: Abby Wisecup

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – The Gators delivered an impressive performance on day two of the 2025 NCAA Men's Division I Championships, qualifying for all five of Thursday's final events at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center.

Florida's six All-American honors contributed 79 points, moving the Gators up to sixth place in the team standings with 101 total points.

Josh Liendo was a pivotal contributor for the Gators on Thursday, racking up 49 points after finishing second in the 50 free and leading off Florida's 200 free relay, who finished third. The 2024 Olympic silver medalist recorded an 18.23 in the 50 free to finish runner-up to Tennessee's Jordan Crooks time of 17.91. The senior Volunteer and Liendo have gone one-two in the event for the past three years, with Florida taking home the title at last year's NCAA Championships.

Speed like Liendo 😮‍💨

🔸He's earned a top-two finish in the 50 free for three-consecutive years🥈🥇🥈 #GoGators pic.twitter.com/pa4JWkDEJr
— Gators Swimming & Diving (@GatorsSwimDv) March 28, 2025

Shortly after, the junior split an 18.24 in the 200 free relay, as Julian Smith (18.25), Alexander Painter (18.40) and Scotty Buff (18.48) help put together the program's third-fastest time of 1:13.37 to finish third in the final event of the night.

Smith also had a solid individual performance, representing Florida in the 200 IM Championship Final. The 2025 SEC Champion recorded his best NCAA finish after going 1:39.85 for sixth. He earned First-Team All-American honors in the event for the first time, having made the Consolation Final for the past two years. The senior posted Florida's top 200 IM finish since Jan Swirtowski's victory in 2018.

Represented 🐊

🔸 Julian's best 200 IM finish at NCAA's! #GoGators pic.twitter.com/MXBZQDSvJ9
— Gators Swimming & Diving (@GatorsSwimDv) March 28, 2025

Painter and Gio Linscheer advanced to the Consolation Final in their respective event as well.

Painter was able to skim his way into the 50 free finals after going 18.92 in prelims. The freshman shaved off half a second of his morning time to put together a career-best 18.60 to win his heat from lane one. His time sits third-best in program history and the third-fastest freshman time in history. Florida owns three of the four all-time fastest freshman 50 freestyles, with Liendo's 18.22 ranking first and Caeleb Dressel's 18.67 being fourth.

HEAT WON FROM LANE ONE 😤

🔸 Painter's 18.60 becomes the third-fastest 50 free in program history! #GoGators pic.twitter.com/mpsJjR4d9w
— Gators Swimming & Diving (@GatorsSwimDv) March 28, 2025

Linscheer competed in the 500 free Consolation Final and placed 12th after going 4:12.05. The junior improved from his 4:12.17 prelim time and picked up his second All-American honor in the event.

All-American honors for Gio 🫡

🔸 He earns his second 500 free honor of his career! #GoGators pic.twitter.com/ChG7oTYVpt
— Gators Swimming & Diving (@GatorsSwimDv) March 28, 2025

ONE-METER DIVING
Three Gators competed in the opening diving event, as Conor Gesing secured his first top-16 NCAA finish after qualifying for the Consolation Final. The sophomore placed 13th in prelims, and remained steady to finished with a score of 340.30 for 14th overall. Gesing will make his final appearance of the week tomorrow in the three-meter springboard, where he will be joined by his two fellow Gator divers, Peyton Donald and Jesus Gonzalez. The two competed in the one-meter event as well, where Gonzalez posted a score of 313.90 for 27th and Donald earned 39th with a prelim score of 287.50.

🗣️ One-Meter All-American

🔸 Gesing's first NCAA top-16 finish!! #GoGators pic.twitter.com/Rg1mU4hKCA
— Gators Swimming & Diving (@GatorsSwimDv) March 28, 2025

UP NEXT
Championship action speeds up tomorrow with seven events taking place. The 400 IM opens Friday prelims at 1 p.m. with the 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast and 100 back following. The three-meter springboard concludes prelim action at 3 p.m. before heading into 9 p.m. finals. The 400 medley relay closes out day three of the 2025 NCAA Division I Championships.

TOP-10 TEAM STANDINGS (Following day two)

Texas – 190
California – 159.5
Indiana – 146
Tennessee – 114
Arizona State – 111
Florida – 101
Georgia – 92
NC State – 90
Stanford – 81
Michigan – 43

FLORIDA'S FULL TALLY
All-Americans
First-Team

200 Free Relay – Liendo, Smith, Painter, Buff
800 Free Relay – Painter, Smith, Mitchell, Lindholm
200 IM – Julian Smith
50 Freestyle – Josh Liendo

Second-Team

50 Freestyle – Alexander Painter
500 Freestyle – Gio Linscheer
One-Meter Diving – Conor Gesing

Program Top-10 Times

200 Free Relay: Liendo, Smith, Painter, Buff – No. 3 (1:13.37)
800 Free Relay: Painter, Smith, Mitchell, Lindholm – No. 3 (6:06.96)
50 Freestyle: Alexander Painter – No. 3 (18.60)

Thursday's Results:

Thursday, March 27 Prelims Results – Top 16 advance to Finals
Men's 500-Yard Freestyle	14th - Gio Linscheer – 4:12.17 31st - Eric Brown – 4:15.66 34th - Jake Mitchell – 4:16.06 36th - Oskar Lindholm – 4:16.51 41st - Josh Parent – 4:17.81 (Personal Best)
Men's 200-Yard IM	5th - Julian Smith – 1:39.85 39th - Mason Laur – 1:43.50 48th - Aleksas Savickas – 1:44.06 (personal Best)
Men's 50-Yard Free	2nd - Josh Liendo – 18.30 15th - Alexander Painter – 18.92 23rd - Scotty Buff – 19.08 33rd - Ed Fullum-Huot – 19.24
Men's 1-Meter Diving	Peyton Donald \| 39th place \| 287.50 Round 1 – 50.70 Round 2 – 49.50 Round 3 – 40.30 Round 4 – 45.00 Round 5 – 52.50 Round 6 – 49.50 Conor Gesing \| 13th place \| 346.35 Round 1 – 57.20 Round 2 – 54.00 Round 3 – 57.00 Round 4 – 63.55 Round 5 – 62.40 Round 6 –52.20 Jesus Gonazalez \| 27th place \| 313.90 Round 1 – 55.80 Round 2 – 49.50 Round 3 – 49.60 Round 4 – 52.50 Round 5 – 45.00 Round 6 –61.50
Thursday, March 27 Finals Results
Men's 500-Yard Freestyle	12th - Gio Linscheer – 4:12.05
Men's 200-Yard IM	6^th Julian Smith – 1:39.85
Men's 50-Yard Freestyle	2nd - Josh Liendo – 18.23 9th - Alexander Painter – 18.60
Men's One-Meter Diving	Conor Gesing \| 340.30 \| 14th free Round 1 – 55.90\| 7^th place Round 2 – 60.00 \| 7^th place Round 3 – 54.00 \| 6th Round 4 – 55.80 \| 5th Round 5 – 52.20 \| 6th Round 6 – 62.40
Men's 200 Yard Freestyle Relay	3rd place \| 1:13.37 Josh Liendo (18.24) Julian Smith (18.25) Alex Painter (18.40) Scotty Buff (18.48)

HOW TO FOLLOW
All sessions will be televised live on ESPN+ for subscribers. Links for the live stream and live results can be found on Florida men's swimming and diving schedule page on FloridaGators.com. Live results will be available to paid subscribers on Meet Mobile or fans can follow @GatorsSwimDV on socials. Tape-delayed coverage of the men's championships will be on ESPNU at 7 p.m. Eastern time, Monday, March 31.

2025 DI MEN'S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE, DATES (ALL TIMES EASTERN)

Friday, March 28 | Live results | Watch
- Prelims | 1 p.m.
- Three-meter diving trials | 3 p.m.
- Three-meter diving consolation finals | 8:15 p.m.
- Finals | 9 p.m.
  - 400-yard individual medley
  - 100-yard butterfly
  - 200-yard freestyle
  - 100-yard breaststroke
  - 100-yard backstroke
  - Three-meter diving
  - 400-yard medley relay
Saturday, March 29 | Live results | Watch
- Prelims | 1 p.m.
- Platform diving trials | 3 p.m.
- 1650 freestyle prelims | 6:45 p.m.
- Platform diving consolation finals | 8:15 p.m.
- Finals | 9 p.m.
  - 1,650-yard freestyle
  - 200-yard backstroke
  - 100-yard freestyle
  - 200-yard breaststroke
  - 200-yard butterfly
  - Platform diving
  - 400-yard freestyle relay