Three National Titles Highlight Florida’s Historical Friday Night

Last Updated: March 29, 2025By


FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – The Gators impressed on day three of the NCAA Men’s Division I Swimming and Diving Championships, as Florida won two individual titles and took back their 400 medley relay title in record-breaking fashion on Friday at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center.

The Gators improve to fourth in the team standings with 233 points heading into the final day of championship competition.

In the opening event of the night, Josh Liendo went a personal-best 43.06 to defend his 100-yard butterfly title by four tenths of a second. His finish becomes the second-fastest of all-time, shaving just one-one hundredth off his previous 43.07 that he recorded at last year’s NCAA meet. The junior now has two of Florida’s eight national titles and is the first athlete to go back-to-back since Caeleb Dressel in 2017-18. Only 15 swimmers in history have earned two or more wins in the event at NCAA’s, including Dressel and Anthony Nesty. The Gators head coach claimed three-straight from 1990-92.

Julian Smith became the first Gator in history to bring home a national title in the 100-yard breaststroke. He dominated the Championship Final with a winning time of 49.55, coming close to his own NCAA, American and program record time of 49.51 he set this past February at SEC Championships. His two times mark the first and third-fastest times in history. Prior to qualifying for the Championship Final on Friday, the senior had placed seventh at last year’s NCAA meet with a time of 50.94 and was 14th his sophomore season with a 51.45.

Liendo and Smith were both part of Florida’s 400 medley relay team who broke the NCAA Meet record with their 2:56.10 to win the event by over two seconds. The Gators reclaimed their title from 2023, while overcoming their 2024 disqualification. Jonny Marshall gained an early lead for the Gators with his 43.87 back split before handing off to the 100 breast and 100 fly national champions. Smith went a speedy 48.85 to earn a commanding lead for Liendo’s 42.46. By the time it was Alexander Painter’s turn to enter the water, Florida was racing against their own NCAA record time of 2:55.66 the four had set a month ago at SEC’s. The freshman went a 40.90 in his 100 free to secure the final victory of the night and his first NCAA title. Their win marks the program’s third national title in the event.   

Prior to swimming in the relay, Marshall represented Florida in the 100 back Championship Final. The sophomore went head-to-head with fellow Paris Olympian Hubert Kos. Marshall led going into the final 50 yards, but the Longhorn got his hand on the wall in 43.20 to outlast the reigning SEC Champion’s 43.22. His second-place finish is the best by a Gator in 20 years, and improves his school record time of 43.73. Florida’s last runner-up finish was from Ryan Lochte in 2005.

Painter, Scotty Buff, Mason Laur, Gio Linscheer and Aleksas Savickas also raced in Friday’s night session.

Buff made his first 100 fly Championship Final and joined Liendo in the eighth lane. It was the first time since 2018 that two Gators were in the running for the national title. The sophomore went under 44 seconds for the first time ever to place fifth with a time of 43.95. His finish improves his third-fastest time in history, as the sophomore earns First-Team All-American honors.

Laur and Linscheer contributed to 11 points after going three-four in the 400 IM Consolation Final. Laur placed 11th overall with a time of 3:39.28, with Linscheer following in 12th with his 3:39.38. The junior improved from prelims (3:39.54) to collect his second All-American honor in the event, while Laur finishes his collegiate career with three All-American honors.  

Coming off of his 50 free B-Final win, Painter was the only freshman to advance to the finals session in the 200 free, where he placed fourth in the Consolation Final with a time of 1:31.90 to earn 12th overall.

Savickas finished fourth in his Consolation Final as well, as the junior was the second Gator to represent Florida in the 100 breast. The Paris Olympian dropped .20 seconds off his morning time to tie his career best time of 51.01, which is the fourth-fastest time in program history.

THREE-METER DIVING

Peyton Donald, Conor Gesing and Jesus Gonzalez competed in the three-meter springboard, marking the first time ever Florida has had three divers in the event. The divers remained in competition following the first round with scores above 57.00, as 60 points per dive on average gets into the B final.

After earning his first one-meter All-American honor yesterday, Gesing started his opening two rounds with scores above 60, but was given a 21.00 on his third dive after the judges ruled his first tuck didn’t clear the board. The sophomore continued to battle and scored a 52.50 and a 66.30 on his final two dives to closeout his NCAA Championships with a total score of 309.75 for 32nd.

Donald recorded his best scores on the fifth (77.00) and six rounds (65.10) to finish strong with Florida’s best finish, 22nd place. The junior scored a 57.00 on his first dive, but recorded one 31.50 to ultimately take him out of final competition. He finished with a final score of 340.10.

Gonzalez looks to make his first NCAA final on platform tomorrow after finishing 42nd on Friday. He started competition with a strong 63.00 and maintained steady scores in the 50.00 range heading into the final two rounds. He finished with back-to-back 30.00 scores to total 289.85.

HEAR FROM THE WINNING GATORS

Junior Josh Liendo

On defending his title and going the second-fastest time ever in history…

“I wanted to get the team going and get some good momentum. It was good to see Scott go 44 too, that’s my team and my training partner.”

 

On the field he was racing against and how does a heat that includes three of the last NCAA winners over the last three years help him when racing…

“It’s perfect practice racing against those guys, Dare Rose (California) beside me I have raced him at Worlds and Ilya Kharun (Arizona State) is an Olympian. It’s just a world-class field and I was happy to put together a good swim against them.”

 

Senior Julian Smith

On winning the 100 breaststroke and if he knew coming into tonight that he would be doing something really special…

“No. Four years ago, I remember my dad watching this meet and was like, “that is going to be you some day,” and I was like, “no way.” “To be here today is a blessing and I can’t thank Coach Nesty enough for the opportunity.”

 

On his trajectory and what him and Nesty have been working on over the years that has allowed him to be the best man to ever swim this event…

“We talked about it today before the race, just swimming with a chip on your shoulder. That has just propelled me for the last four years and I am just so grateful.”

 

Florida’s 400 Medley Relay Team:

Sophomore Jonny Marshall

On handling everything following the DQ from night one and what this win meant…

“It meant the world really. It was kind of a let down on night one, but the meet goes on and the reason we are still here is because we want to have swims like that. Big ups to these guys.”

 

Senior Julian Smith

On how important it is to get a relay wins for all the points and keeping in mind the team competition…

“It is very important and being from the University of Florida… we were not going to leave without winning a relay.”

 

Junior Josh Liendo

On his fly split and how he is able to refocus and reset from swimming previously…

“It helps when I have these two (points to Marshall and Smith) ahead of me. Just knowing that I am doing it for the team in general is what gets me going for all of these relays.”

 

Freshman Alexander Painter

On getting to anchor as a freshman and how he is able to learn from the other three relay guys…

“I learn so much from these guys every day in training. It is a pleasure to follow these three. Second and two firsts in their individual events, that makes it not too hard.”

 

UP NEXT

Saturday marks the final day of events, as the 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast and 200 fly preliminary events kick off at 1 p.m. ET.  Diving will climb the tower for platform prelims starting at 3 p.m and the 1650 free trials following at 6:45 p.m. Day four finals kick off at 9 p.m. with the 400 free relay concluding 2025 Women’s NCAA Division I Championships.

 

TOP-10 TEAM STANDINGS (Following day three)

  1. Texas – 368

  2. California – 312.5

  3. Indiana – 304

  4. Florida – 233

  5. Georgia – 177.5

  6. Arizona State – 172

  7. Tennessee – 162.5

  8. Stanford – 162

  9. NC State – 128

  10. Michigan – 83

 
FLORIDA’S FULL TALLY
National Champions

 
All-Americans
First-Team

Second-Team

Records
NCAA Meet

  • 400 Medley Relay – Marshall, Smith, Liendo, Painter – 2:56.10

Program

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)

  • 100 Breaststroke: Aleksas Savickas – Tied No. 4 (51.01)

  • 100 Backstroke: Jonny Marshall – No. 1 (43.22)

  • 100 Butterfly: Josh Liendo – No. 2 (43.06)  & Scotty Buff – No. 3 (43.95)

 
Friday Results

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)

  • 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 – finals

      • 400-yard freestyle relay

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