U.S. Olympian David Johnston has announced his transfer to Florida from Texas. Johnston entered the transfer portal last month, the day it opened for men’s swimming and diving. The Florida men just finished 2nd behind Texas at the 2026 NCAA Championships and had their highest scoring events come in the distance freestyles.
Johnston told SwimSwam, “I chose Florida because of the opportunity to train with multiple world-class distance swimmers under coach Nesty, Whitney, and the staff. Additionally, staying in college allows me to be funded financially for another year and pursue a second graduate degree. I have known and respected the Florida program for many years, and I am honored to be given the chance to become a Gator. Additionally, I wanted to pick a school that had a chance of winning an NCAA championship. After my injury, I felt like I needed a fresh start.”
Johnston arrived at Texas as a freshman during the 2020-2021 COVID season, which allowed swimmers another year of eligibility. He was 7th in the 1650 free and 8th in the 400 IM at the 2021 NCAA Championships for a total of 23 individual points.
He returned to NCAAs as a sophomore, finishing 5th in the 1650 free, 6th in the 500 free, and 7th in the 400 IM. He scored a total of 39 individual points, helping Texas to a 2nd place finish.
Johnston’s junior year was his highest scoring season with the Longhorns, as he scored 43 individual points, making him the highest scoring swimmer for Texas. He finished as NCAA runner-up in the 500 free in 4:08.79, as well as a 4th place finish in the 1650 free and an 8th place finish in the 400 IM. He graduated with his undergraduate degree that spring from Texas.
He took an Olympic redshirt during the 2023-2024 season and went on to make the 2024 US Olympic Team in the 1500 free. He then finished 18th in the event in Paris, just days after testing positive for COVID-19.
Johnston returned to the Longhorns in fall 2024 and went on to score 30 individual points at the 2025 NCAA Championships, helping Texas to their first team title under Bob Bowman. Johnston was 7th in the 1650 free, 8th in the 400 IM, and 10th in the 500 free. He only competed in one meet this past year for the team and plans to receive a medical redshirt for the season while dealing with a shoulder injury. Johnston tells SwimSwam that the medical redshirt is not official yet, as those are finalized after the completion of the season.
The arrival of Johnston is huge for the Florida men, who just finished 2nd behind Texas at the 2026 NCAA Championships. The Gators were the top scoring team in the 500 and 1650 freestyle events. Freshman Ahmed Jaouadi won the 1650 free in an NCAA record 14:10.03, and teammates Ahmed Hafnaoui (4th) and Gio Linscheer (5th) were also top eight in the event. Hafnaoui won the NCAA title in the 500 free with a 4:06.56, just ahead of Jaouadi’s 4:06.90 for 2nd. Linscheer was 5th in the 500 free as well. Hafnaoui just finished his graduate season, while Linscheer finished his senior year, so the arrival of Johnston will help fill the gap.
In addition to the team’s strong NCAA group, Gainesville is also home to distance freestyle pros Bobby Finke and Katie Ledecky. Finke was the other US entry in the men’s 1500 free at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Johnston turns 25 in October.
Sources have told SwimSwam that Johnston was also looking into Indiana and Ohio State.
Make sense. Florida has the best men’s distance freestyle training group in the world.
Bernd Berkhahn would like to debate that statement I would imagine.
This transfer will eventually be denied.
Reason?
Nesty: “thank goodness, I’ve got someone to swim the IMs!”
Texas fan here. I hope this keeps the NCAA title race competitive. After last NCAAs, I don’t think Texas is a lock to win it unless they show up and actually swim the times that they have on paper.
I hope this ends up being a perfect fit for David to close out his collegiate career. Florida is lucky to have him!
This reads like an April Fools article
I can’t fault him or Florida for taking advantage of the situation. And institutions will always act in ways that they are incentivized to. If you found a place that’s willing to give him money to keep swimming then good for him. They found an athlete that will help them achieve their team goals. Good for them.
The problem is we need rules that stand the scrutiny of courts when they get challenged, which the NCAA is completely unable to do.
I don’t really blame the NCAA either. The NCAA, afterall, is actually just a collection of its member institutions, and most of its member institutions don’t really want the rules either.
The NCAA doesn’t work when held to the same rules as other employers. Neither do the NBA, MLB, or NFL. But that’s why carveouts to the laws have been made for all of those other leagues.
“…which the NCAA is completely unable to do”
That’s not true. The NCAA has won the majority of their eligibility cases in the courts.
I really hope Trump can fix this
Only thing Trump is fixing is the betting markets so his family and friends profit off the chaotic downfall of the US.
Interested if Trumps executive order goes into effect/withstands whatever appeals… does this mean people like David are no longer eligible? And are seniors who just finished 4 years (such as Kos) instantly extended to 5 years potentially?