The Gators opened their 2026-27 season Saturday with two dominant performances on the road.
The No. 2 Florida men traveled to Boca Raton to square off against Florida Atlantic, defeating the Owls 232-63. Meanwhile, the No. 10 Florida women made the trip to Nashville to face Vanderbilt, winning 206-55.
Both teams swept the scored swimming events, with Florida claiming first in all 14 races.
The Florida men wasted little time setting the tone, opening with a first-place finish in the 200-medley relay. Junior Jonny Marshall, sophomore Nil Cadevall and juniors Scotty Buff and Devin Dilger touched the wall in 1:25.48. Florida also grabbed second with Aiden Norman, Jordan Willis, Zoltan Bagi and Marvin Johnson Jr. finishing in 1:27.60.
The Gators then swept the podium in the 1,000-meter freestyle. Sophomore Ahmed Jaouadi led the way in 8:57.88, followed by Luke Corey and Santiago Alzate.
Jaouadi doubled up in the 200-meter freestyle, finishing first in 1:37.42. Junior Paul Dardis followed in second at 1:40.50.
Florida continued its run in the 100-meter backstroke, where Marshall took first at 53.99 and Norman followed close behind at 54.86.
Cadevall began his individual haul in the 100-meter breaststroke, touching first in 53.39. Willis finished second at 54.86. Cadevall later picked up his second individual win in the 200-meter breaststroke, touching in at 1:58.06, and picked up his final win of the meet in the 200-meter individual medley with a 1:49.66.
The Gators swept another podium in the 200-meter butterfly. Matthew Cairns led the group with a 1:46.88 finish, followed by freshmen Tai Pearson and Liam Smith.
Dilger added a pair of sprint victories, taking the 50-meter freestyle in 19.36 and the 100-meter freestyle in 43.82. Buff finished behind him in both events at 19.87 and 45.26.
Florida later swept the 200-meter backstroke, with Norman finishing first in 1:44.72, Marshall second in 1:48.95 and Cairns third in 1:50.18.
Pearson earned his first collegiate victory in the 100-meter butterfly, finishing in 47.67. Pearson also helped close out the meet on the men’s 400-meter freestyle B-relay, which came in second to Florida’s A-relay, featuring Marshall, Buff, Dilger and Dardis.
The women matched the men's opening with a first-place finish in the 200-meter medley relay. Senior Catie Choate, freshman Maddie Moreth, junior Beatriz Bezerra and sophomore Sylvia Statkevicius finished in 1:39.42. Florida also took second and third with their B- and C- relays.
Freshman Valentina Procaccini opened up the women’s individual events with an immediate impact in her first collegiate meet, winning the 1,000-freestyle in 9:52.75. Procaccini would later earn her second victory of the day in the 500-meter freestyle, finishing in 4:52.26. Julie Brousseau quickly followed the distance swim with a win in the 200-meter freestyle, finishing in 1:48.64. Maeline Bessard and Bomin Kim completed a Florida sweep of the top three in 1:51.19 and 1:53.61, respectively.
Choate led another Florida sweep in the 100-meter backstroke. She finished first in 53.25, followed by Zuri Ferguson at 54.83 and Zoe Dixon at 55.33. Choate picked up another win in the 200-meter backstroke, finishing in 1:56.56. Ferguson and Dixon followed in second and third at 1:59.48 and 2:00.13.
Moreth picked up her first collegiate win in the 100-meter breaststroke, touching in 1:01.91. Grace Rabb finished second at 1:02.84.
Lainy Kruger added another first-place finish for the Gators in the 200-meter butterfly at 2:02.99, with Grace Rainey finishing second at 2:03.28.
Bezerra took the 50-meter freestyle in 22.45, while Statkevicius finished second at 23.26.Statkevicius then claimed the 100-meter freestyle in 50.69. Kruger finished second at 51.14 and JoJo Ramey took third at 52.30.
Moreth doubled up in the 200-meter breaststroke, winning in 2:15.05. Rainey finished second at 2:18.65.
Bezerra added another win in the 100-meter butterfly at 54.36, while Rabb finished second at 55.56.
Brousseau closed out the individual events with a victory in the 200-meter individual medley. She finished in 2:01.96, followed by Sofia Plaza at 2:07.38 and Kim at 2:08.26. The meet officially concluded with yet another podium sweep in the 400-meter freestyle relay, with first place featuring Kruger, Bezerra, Statkevicius and Choate.
The Gators will return to the pool Saturday when both teams travel to Kentucky for a dual meet against the Wildcats.
Contact Lily Perkins at lperkins@alligator.org. Follow her on X @lily_perkins10.
Lily Perkins is a senior sports journalism student in her second semester at The Alligator. She is currently the men's and women's swim and dive reporter. She enjoys cooking, swimming, spending time with her friends and watching all sports, but specifically any sport that involves four wheels and a track.
