No. 4/10 Florida Swim & Dive Competes at 2026 SEC Championships

Monday, February 16

Knoxville, TN

Prelims at 12 p.m. | Finals at 5 p.m.

Florida Gators

Southeastern Conference

during the Gators’ meet against the LSU Tigers on Friday, January 9, 2026 at Stephen C. O'Connell Center Natatorium in Gainesville, FL / UAA Communications photo by Bryce Mitchell

Josh Liendo enters his final SEC’s as a three-time Champion in the 100 fly and two-time Champion in the 100 free.

No. 4/10 Florida Swim & Dive Competes at 2026 SEC Championships

Sunday, February 15, 2026 | Men's Swimming & Diving

SEC Championship Notes Championship Central Live Stats SEC Network+

By: Abby Wisecup

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 4/10 Florida swimming & diving heads to Knoxville, Tennessee, for the 2026 Southeastern Conference Swimming & Diving Championships, set for Feb. 16-21 at the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center.

All meet information, including schedules, tickets, heat sheets/results, streaming links, parking and fan policies, can be found on the 2026 SEC Swimming & Diving Championships Central page. Every session will be streamed on SEC Network+ with championship finals called by Gator Great Elizabeth Beisel, Rowdy Gaines and Joe Bieninati. Live Stats will be available on the Meet Mobile app and at Tennessee's live results website.

SEC Championship Schedule

The six-day meet opens Monday, Feb. 16, with men's 1-meter diving. Tuesday features the 1,650 freestyle, women's 1-meter diving and concludes with the 200 medley relay and 800 free relay.
Swimming preliminaries begin Wednesday with the 100 back, 200 fly and 100 breast, followed by men's 3-meter diving and the 400 medley relay in finals.
Thursday includes the 100 fly, 400 IM and 200 free, along with women's 3-meter diving. Friday's slate features the 200 breast, 50 free, 500 free, men's platform and 200 free relay.
The championships conclude Saturday with the 200 IM, 100 free, 200 back, women's platform and 400 free relay.

Florida's SEC Championships Resume

Florida enters the week with one of the most decorated histories in SEC Swimming & Diving. With Texas joining the conference this season, the Gators look to reassert themselves atop the league standings.
The Florida men have captured 45 SEC team championships, the second-most by any SEC program across all sports.
The Florida women have won 19 SEC team titles, the most of any women's swimming & diving program in conference history.
The men own the most SEC titles in every individual swimming event.
The women lead the conference in championships in 11 of 13 swimming events, in addition to 1-meter diving.
Both programs also hold the most titles in four of the five relay events.

SEC Championships Format & Scoring

The SEC Championships follow a prelims-and-finals format, meaning swimmers compete twice in one day for most events (excluding the 1,650 freestyle and relays).
Each morning begins with preliminary heats, where swimmers are seeded by time and race to qualify for evening finals. The top 24 finishers advance and score points throughout three finals.
- Championship Final (A Final) - Top 8 compete for the SEC title
- Consolation Final (B Final) - 9th-16th
- C Final - 17th-24th

While only the A Final determines event champions, B and C Final scoring are often critical in the overall team race.
Relay events carry double the points of individual events, making them pivotal to the team standings.
Diving follows a similar format. The top 16 advance to the Championship and Consolation Finals, while the 17-24 placements also score team points.
At the conclusion of the meet, the team with the highest cumulative total is crowned SEC Champion.

2025-26 Gator Splashes
Florida returns a combined 28 student-athletes (13 men, 15 women) with prior SEC Championships experience.

Men

Josh Liendo enters his final SEC's as a three-time Champion in the 100 fly and two-time Champion in the 100 free. He has also been a member of winning relay teams in the 200 free relay (2023), 400 free relay (2024), 800 free relay (2025) and the 400 medley relay (2023, 2024, 2025).
Jonny Marshall, the two-time defending SEC Champion in both the 100 and 200 back, looks to complete the three-peat in each event.
Aleksas Savickas returns to defend his breaststroke success after winning the 200 breast (2023, 2025) and 100 breast (2024).
Freshman Ahmed Jaouadi, a three-time SEC Freshman of the Week honoree, owns the conference's fastest 1,650 free time and ranks second in the 500 free. Seniors Gio Linscheer and Eric Brown add depth to Florida's distance, ranking seventh and eighth in the 1,650 free.
In diving, Conor Gesing looks to build on his 2025 one-meter and 2024 three-meter SEC titles, while Jesus Gonzalez returns after earning bronze on platform last season.
Scotty Buff and Alexander Painter have also contributed to SEC Championship relay victories and individual podium finishes.
Florida will also see several debuts, including January additions Ahmed Hafnaoui and Koen de Groot, alongside Jesus Agundez Mora, Charlie Hutchison and Jordan Willis.

Women

Anita Bottazzo enters the meet with the fastest times in the SEC in both the 100 and 200 breast. Junior Molly Mayne ranks fifth in the conference in both events.
Lainy Kruger and Catie Choate make their third SEC Championships appearances, while diver Camyla Monroy looks to add to her medal collection after winning the 1-meter (2025) and platform (2024).
Julie Brousseau heads into her second SEC meet ranked third in the 500 free and sixth in the 1,650 free.
Freshman Grace Rabb makes her SEC debut seeded fourth in the 200 IM and seventh in the 200 breast.
Florida returns nine women with SEC Championships experience, while Beatriz Bezerra, Zuri Ferguson, Aspen Gersper, Anna Moore and Sylvia Statkevicius are set to compete in their first SEC Championships.

Stay Connected
Fans can stay up to date with the Florida Gator swimming & diving teams by following @GatorsSwimDv on X and catch up with the latest news and content of the team. Like the team's Facebook page at Florida Gators Swimming & Diving Fans can also keep up with the team by following them on Instagram at @Gatorsswimdv