Florida swimming and diving hit the pool again this weekend in split performances.
Florida diving faced Miami in its home opener Friday afternoon, with the Gators earning top-three finishes in both men’s springboard events.
Miguel Tovar led Florida on the 3-meter springboard, scoring a personal-best 390.30 to take first place. The junior also recorded a personal-best 343.58 on the 1-meter springboard, finishing fourth. Senior Conor Gesing placed second on the 1-meter with a score of 364.13 and third on the 3-meter with 366.60.
Florida’s four women competed in springboard exhibitions. Senior Camyla Monroy led the group on the 3-meter, scoring 361.80 to approach her personal best of 370.95. Freshman Juliana Giron Trochez recorded personal bests on both boards, scoring 253.35 on the 1-meter and 273.00 on the 3-meter.
Alexa Fung scored 286.50 on the 1-meter and 260.85 on the 3-meter, while Ava Brinkman recorded scores of 244.88 and 252.00, respectively.
“We’re still early in the season and have a lot of room to grow before championship time, but I’m encouraged by the progress we’re making,” Florida diving coach Bryan Gillooly said after the meet.
Florida swimming split its dual meet against Virginia on Saturday, with the No. 3 Gators’ men earning a 144-117 victory while the No. 10 women fell 205-57 in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Florida kicked off the meet with a strong start, taking a victory in the 200-yard medley relay with Jonny Marshall, Nil Cadevall, Scotty Buff and Devin Dilger. They went on to secure wins in several individual events and both freestyle relays to claim the team victory. Despite the women’s loss against the No. 1 Cavaliers, Florida had several strong individual performances, including a victory from JoJo Ramey in the 200-yard backstroke.
Ahmed Jaouadi led the Gators with victories in the men’s 500- and 1,000-yard freestyle events. Florida swept the top three spots in both races, with Luke Corey and Santiago Alzate joining Jaouadi on the podium. Jaouadi won the 1,000-yard in 8:43.27 and the 500-yard in 4:18.32.
Cadevall also delivered a pair of individual wins, taking first in the 100-yard breaststroke in 52.71 seconds and a season-best in the 200-yard breaststroke at 1:53.33.SophomoreJordan Willis finished second in the 200-yard breast, helping Florida secure two of the top spots.
Florida’s women earned victories in the backstroke and finished near the top of several distance freestyle events. Ramey rallied in the second half of the 200-yard back to win in 1:53.39, finishing ahead of Virginia’s Alyssa Sagle. Freshman Valentina Procaccini placed second in the 1,000-meter freestyle in 9:29.36, while Julie Brousseau took second in the 500-meter freestyle in 4:40.18.
Lainy Kruger added a third-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly, touching the wall in 1:56.85. Francesca Zucca also finished among the top three in two breaststroke events, placing fourth in the 100-yard breast in 1:00.76 before taking second in the 200 breast in 2:12.38.
Florida’s men also edged Virginia in both the 200-yard medley relay and the 400 freestyle relay. The Gators won the medley relay in 1:23.24, just 0.23 seconds ahead of the Cavaliers, before closing the meet with a second victory in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The women were swept by the Cavaliers in the 400-yard freestyle relay, finishing fourth and fifth.
Virginia controlled much of the remaining competition, sweeping the top three in multiple women’s events, including the 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard backstroke, 100-yard freestyle and 400-yard individual medley. The Cavaliers also earned several individual victories on the men’s side, including wins in the 200-yard freestyle, 200-yard backstroke and both butterfly events.
Following the meet, coach Anthony Nesty spoke on the team’s overall performance, noting the women’s disappointing performance was “significantly limited” to injury and illness.
“Virginia is a great program, and we know coming in that this would be a challenge,” he said. “There are definitely things we can be better at; We’ll learn from it, get back to work, and keep moving forward.”
Florida will look to build on the men’s victory and regroup on the women’s side as the Gators take on the Georgia Bulldogs in Athens on Oct. 30.
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.
