Four Florida swimmers garnered All-American accolades after finishing fourth in the 800 free relay on the first day of the NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships in Minneapolis.
The quartet of Jan Switkowski, Khader Baqlah, Maxime Rooney and Mark Szaranek were the only Gators competing on Wednesday. Their time of 6:09.52 in the 800 free relay is the second fastest time in program history, second only to last year’s time of 6:09.30.
Switkowski, Rooney and Szaranek were a part of last year’s record holding group. Although Florida failed to improve on its time this year, it was not the fault of newcomer Khader Baqlah, who was fastest of Florida’s four swimmers with a time of 1:31.64 in the second leg.
Baqlah, along will 11 other Gators, will compete on Thursday when individual events begin. His teammates from the 800 free relay will also be in action for the second day in a row.
One noteworthy storyline involves senior Caeleb Dressel, who will have a chance at history on Thursday in the 50 free. With a win, he’ll be the first male to win that event four years in a row. He could also tie Ryan Lochte’s program record of seven individual national championships in the process.
Outside of individual competition, Florida will also compete in the 200 free relay and the prelims for the 400 medley relay tomorrow.
Thursday’s prelims begin at 11 a.m., and the finals won’t begin until 7 p.m.
Follow Sam Campisano on Twitter @samcampisano and contact him at scampisano@alligator.org.
Sophomore Khader Baqlah helped propel the Gators to a fourth-place finish in the 800 free relay while earning All-American honors on Wednesday.
