Following several NCAA Championship appearances last spring, Florida men’s and women’s diving is set to return to competition this fall. The Gators will open their 2026-27 season at home against Miami on Oct. 16 before the schedule continues into the spring and culminates with the SEC and NCAA Championships.
The Gators have added several new divers to their roster, including Miguel Tovar and Julia Giron.
Giron comes to Florida with several accolades, including national championship titles in both the junior and senior categories. She is also a South American national champion and a World Aquatics Championships qualifier.
The Colombia native will join sophomores Ava Brinkman and Alexa Fung, plus senior Camyla Monroy this season. Florida’s women’s roster returns significant experience from years past, with both Fung and Monroy competing at the NCAA Championships last season. Monroy notched her third NCAA Championship appearance, qualifying in all three of her events. Tovar will add talent to the men’s side as well. He earned silver medals in the 1-meter dive at both the 2022 and 2024 World Junior Championships. He was also a bronze and silver medalist at the 2025 Pan American Junior Games in the 1-meter and 3-meter synchronized events, respectively.
He joins three returning members of the Florida men’s diving team: sophomore Jesus Agundez Mora, junior Jesus Gonzalez and senior Conor Gesing. All three qualified for the NCAA Championships last year, earning a combined 58 points for the Florida men.
The team is once again led by head coach Bryan Gillooly, who is entering his 10th season at the helm of the Florida diving program. He is backed by his wife Laurent Perez Gillooly, who enters her fourth season as an assistant coach.
After opening the season against Miami in October, Florida’s schedule will kick off again in the spring. Both the men’s and women’s teams face Missouri Jan. 22 before they host Florida State in a platform diving exhibition Jan. 30.
In Florida’s last matchup against the Hurricanes in 2023, both the men’s and women’s teams turned in strong performances. Gesing won both the 1-meter and 3-meter events, while Florida’s women also claimed the top spots in both dives. Although both teams have changed since that meeting, with Miami’s roster hosting first-year divers, Florida returns several experienced competitors, including Gesing, as they head into the upcoming meet.
Florida faces a familiar opponent in its spring exhibition against FSU. Last year, Agundez Mora recorded a meet-high score of 394.50 in the 1-meter dive and finished third in the 3-meter. Gesing earned runner-up honors in the 1-meter, while Fung placed third in the women’s 1-meter.
The regular season will provide opportunities for Florida’s returning and new divers to compete; however, the focus will ultimately shift toward the postseason stretch.
Championship season then begins with the SEC Championships from Feb. 16-20 in Austin, Texas, followed by NCAA Diving Zones from March 7-10 in Knoxville, Tennessee. The season will conclude with the NCAA Championships, where the women will compete from March 17-20 and the men will compete from March 24-27 at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.
After sending several competitors to NCAA Championships last season, Florida will look to once again have a strong presence on the national stage.
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.
