Florida women’s swim and dive will return to Gainesville from its four-day stretch of competition in Atlanta with plenty of hardware to hoist at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center Natatorium.
The No. 10 Gators notched their fourth-consecutive top-10 finish at the 2026 NCAA Division I Swim and Dive Championships on Saturday, sparking their longest streak since 2001-15.
They were restricted to just 14 qualifiers, including 10 swimmers who represented Florida in 12 individual events. Nonetheless, the Gators came out of the weekend with 125.5 points.
“I am so proud of these lady gators,” Florida head coach Anthony Nesty said. “They had a big opportunity and matched it with an unbelievable performance.”
However, Virginia emerged victorious in its sixth-straight NCAA women’s title, nabbing 589 points. The total topped second-place Stanford by 209.5 points, standing tall among the rest of the competition.
But four Gators were named first-team All-Americans, including three underclassmen.
Sophomore Anita Bottazzo stood tall on the podium after placing second in the 100-meter breaststroke Thursday. Her finals time of 57 seconds matched Tennessee’s McKenzie Siroky for silver. Bottazzo knocked 0.34 seconds off of her original time in the preliminary round, while Siroky swam 0.07 slower than her former mark.
Bottazzo, a Venice, Italy, native, placed seventh nationally in the 200-meter breaststroke, coming in just 0.28 behind Florida’s Grace Rabb. Bottazzo was also instrumental in the Gators grabbing 12 points in the 200-yard medley. She joined freshman Beatreiz Bezerra and juniors Catie Choate and Lainy Kruger in their 1:35.33 finals time. The mark came in at No. 7 in program history, one of five times to make Florida’s top-10 list.
Bottazzo entered the week as the No. 2 and No. 8 seed in the 100-meter and 200-meter breaststroke, respectively. The sophomore came into her second NCAA Championship fresh off a breaststroke event sweep in SEC’s.
Choate kicked off Florida’s first leg of the relay to add to her second-team All-America honor. She placed 16th in the 200-meter backstroke, just over a month removed from becoming a Southeastern Conference champion in the event. Choate and the rest of the 200-meter medley also swam the 400-meter relay, picking up the No. 8 all-time Florida time.
Florida’s success extended far beyond the lanes. Camyla Monroy excelled in her third consecutive NCAA Championship. The junior traveled to Atlanta having qualified for all three diving events, as she’s done throughout her collegiate career.
Monroy finished fourth in the 1-meter dive and eighth in the platform dive. She nabbed 15 points for the Gators in the latter, posting a score of 318.25 in the final round. The total was 21.55 greater than her preliminary score.
“This meet was a very solid finish to another great season for these women,” said Florida diving head coach Brian Gillooly. “All three were right in the mix in their events, and Camyla coming home with two first-team All-American honors makes me very proud.”
Monroy’s diving counterpart, Casey Greenberg, made her NCAA debut as a senior. She finished 20th in the platform dive with a score of 246.1.
“I’m glad we were able to add points for the Gators and represent the University well,” Gillooly said. “Now the plan is to carry this momentum into next week with the men’s team.”
Florida men’s swim and dive will send 14 qualifiers to the 2026 Men’s NCAA Division I Championships on March 25-28 at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta. The 11 Florida swimmers are tied for the fourth-most by any school this year to qualify. The Gators also have three divers making the trip.
Contact Riley Orovitz at rorovitz@alligator.org. Follow her on X at @rileyorovitz.
Riley is a sophomore sports journalism student in her second semester at The Alligator. She is the beat reporter for Gators Gymnastics and Swim & Dive while also contributing to the Gators Football Beat. She previously served in the same role in her first semester with the newspaper. Riley is an avid South Florida sports fan and enjoys playing/following all sports in her free time.
