Florida’s Alex Painter Named SEC Male Freshman Swimmer of the Year

Courtesy: Florida Athletics

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida’s Alexander Painter is the Southeastern Conference Male Freshman Swimmer of the Year, the league office announced Thursday. Painter is also one of 22 Gators to earn 2024-25 All-SEC or All-Freshman honors.

This marks the third consecutive year a Gator has received the SEC Male Freshman Swimmer of the Year award, with Painter becoming the 15th Florida swimmer to earn the honor. Additionally, Florida led all programs with seven men named to the 2025 All-SEC First Team. On the women’s side, the Gators’ six honorees matched with Tennessee and Texas for the most in the conference.

All-SEC First Team
Men: Conor Gesing, Josh Liendo Jonny Marshall, Jake Mitchell, Alexander Painter, Aleksas Savickas, Julian Smith
Women: Anita Bottazzo, Micayla Cronk, Camyla Monroy, Olivia Peoples, Bella Sims, Emma Weyant

All-SEC Second Team
Men: Scotty Buff, Ed Fullum-Huot, Jesus Gonzalez
Women: Julie Brousseau, Catie Choate, Lainy Kruger, Addison Reese

All-Freshman Team
Men: Jesus Gonzalez, Aiden Norman, Alexander Painter
Women: Anita Bottazzo, Julie Brousseau, Sofia Plaza

SEC Male Freshman of the Year – Alexander Painter
In his debut season, the Somerton, England native made an immediate impact, emerging as a key contributor in both relays and individual freestyle events. He helped four Florida relay squads—the 200 free, 400 free, 800 free, and 400 medley—to new school records and currently holds three individual times ranked among the program’s all-time top 10.

At his first NCAA Championships, Painter delivered an impressive showing, earning six All-American honors and being part of a relay national title. He claimed four First-Team All-American relay teams, anchoring the Gators’ winning 400 medley relay team of Marshall, Smith and Liendo. The squad took home the program’s third national title and set an NCAA Championship meet record with a time of 2:56.10. Individually, Painter placed 9th in the 50 free (18.60) by winning the B final, finished 12th in the 200 free (1:31.90) and just missed scoring in the 100 free with an 18th-place finish (41.80).

At the SEC Championships, Painter totaled four medals and reached the A Final in all three of his individual events. He anchored the Gators’ championship-winning 400 medley relay team, which set an NCAA record (2:55.66) and led off the 800 free relay squad that claimed gold for the fourth year in a row. He also contributed to Florida’s silver-medal finishes in the 200 free and 400 free relays. In individual competition, Painter scored 71 points after placing 5th in the 200 free (1:31.13), 7th in the 50 free (18.80) and 7th in the 100 free (41.41).

For the All-SEC Teams, the First Team consists of the top finisher in each event at the SEC Championships, and the Second Team consists of the second- and third-place finishers in each event. The All-Freshman Teams consist of any redshirt or true freshman who finished either in the top eight or is the highest scoring freshman of each event at the SEC Championships, excluding relay events.

Florida’s All-SEC First Team Male Honors

Florida All-SEC First Team Female Honors

Florida’s All-SEC Second Team Male Honors

Florida’s All-SEC Second Team Female Honors

Florida’s All-Freshman Team Male Honors

Florida’s All-Freshman Team Female Honors

The complete list of the 2024-25 SEC Swimming & Diving Awards are below.

Men’s
Male Co-Swimmer of the Year:                            Jordan Crooks, Tennessee & Hubert Kós, Texas
Male Newcomer Swimmer of the Year:               Chris Guiliano, Texas
Male Freshman Swimmer of the Year:             Alexander Painter, Florida
Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year:                  Bob Bowman, Texas
Male Diver of the Year:                                       Carson Paul, LSU
Male Newcomer Diver of the Year:                     Renato Calderaro, Georgia
Male Freshman Diver of the Year:                      Jaxson Bowshire, Texas A&M
Men’s Diving Coach of the Year:                        Matt Scoggin, Texas

Women’s
Female Swimmer of the Year:                             Emma Sticklen, Texas
Female Newcomer Swimmer of the Year:           Abby Arens, Texas
Female Freshman Swimmer of the Year:            Jillian Cox, Texas
Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year:             Carol Capitani, Texas
Female Co-Divers of the Year:                            Montserrat Gutierrez Lavenant, LSU & Alejandra Estudillo Torres, Texas
Female Newcomer Diver of the Year:                 Bayleigh Cranford, Texas
Female Freshman Diver of the Year:                  Alejandra Estudillo Torres, Texas
Women’s Diving Coach of the Year:                   Matt Scoggin, Texas

Commissioner’s Trophy
Men: Rex Maurer, Texas
Women: Camille Spink, Tennessee & Emma Sticklen, Texas

All-SEC First Team
Men
Conor Gesing, Florida
Josh Liendo, Florida
Jonny Marshall, Florida
Jake Mitchell, Florida
Alexander Painter, Florida
Aleksas Savickas, Florida
Julian Smith, Florida
Luca Urlando, Georgia
Carson Paul, LSU
Nikoli Blackman, Tennessee
Gui Caribe, Tennessee
Jordan Crooks, Tennessee
Kevin Houseman, Tennessee
Lamar Taylor, Tennessee
Luke Hobson, Texas
David Johnston, Texas
Rex Maurer, Texas
Jaxon Bowshire, Texas A&M

Women
Anita Bottazzo, Florida
Micayla Cronk, Florida
Camyla Monroy, Florida
Olivia Peoples, Florida
Bella Sims, Florida
Emma Weyant, Florida
Montserrat Lavenant, LSU
Sophie Verzyl, South Carolina
Brooklyn Douthwright, Tennessee
Josephine Fuller, Tennessee
Ella Jansen, Tennessee
Mona McSharry, Tennessee
Julia Mrozinski, Tennessee
Camille Spink, Tennessee
Abigail Arens, Texas
Grace Cooper, Texas
Jillian Cox, Texas
Piper Enge, Texas
Ava Longi, Texas
Emma Sticklen, Texas

All-SEC Second Team
Men
Charlie Hawke, Alabama
Scotty Buff, Florida
Ed Fullum-Huot, Florida
Jesus Gonzalez, Florida
Reese Branzell, Georgia
Tomas Koski, Georgia
Jake Magahey, Georgia
Levi Sandidge, Kentucky
Martin Espernberger, Tennessee
Bennett Greene, Tennessee
Harrison Lierz, Tennessee
Coby Carrozza, Texas
Nate Germonprez, Texas
Chris Guiliano, Texas
Nick Harris, Texas
Jacob Jones, Texas
Hubert Kós, Texas
Will Modglin, Texas
Kyle Peck, Texas
Will Scholtz, Texas
Baylor Nelson, Texas A&M

Women
Emily Jones, Alabama
Charlotte Rosendale, Alabama
Jada Scott, Alabama
Cadence Vincent, Alabama
Kailyn Winter, Alabama
Avery Wiseman, Alabama
Maria Jose Sanchez, Arkansas
Julie Brousseau, Florida
Catie Choate, Florida
Lainy Kruger, Florida
Addison Reese, Florida
Abby McCulloh, Georgia
Rachel Stege, Georgia
Megan Barnes, LSU
Zoe Carlos-Broc, LSU
Sabrina Lyn, LSU
Sofia Sartori, LSU
Sophie Brison, Tennessee
Jillian Crooks, Tennessee
Amber Myers, Tennessee
McKenzie Siroky, Tennessee
Sara Stotler, Tennessee
Olivia Bray, Texas
Campbell Chase, Texas
Alejandra Estudillo, Texas
Erin Gemmell, Texas
Hailey Hernandez, Texas
Kate Hurst, Texas
Lillie Nesty, Texas
Campbell Stoll, Texas

All-Freshman Team
Men
Jesus Gonzalez, Florida
Aiden Norman, Florida
Alexander Painter, Florida
Drew Hitchcock, Georgia
Volodymyr Lisovets, LSU
Nikola Simic, LSU
Bennett Greene, Tennessee
Luke Forester, Texas
Jacob Jones, Texas
Cooper Lucas, Texas
Kyle Peck, Texas
Jacob Welsh, Texas
Jaxon Bowshire, Texas A&M
Travis Gulledge, Texas A&M

Women
Maria Jose Sanchez, Arkansas
Chloe Brothers, Auburn
Emily Hallifax, Auburn
Lora Komoroczy, Auburn
Anita Bottazzo, Florida
Julie Brousseau, Florida
Sofia Plaza, Florida
Marie Landreneau, Georgia
Zoe Carlos-Broc, LSU
Grace Palmer, LSU
Emily Brown, Tennessee
Jillian Crooks, Tennessee
Ella Jansen, Tennessee
McKenzie Siroky, Tennessee
Campbell Chase, Texas
Piper Enge, Texas
Alejandra Estudillo, Texas
Taylor Fox, Texas
Lillie Nesty, Texas