2022 SEC SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Tuesday, February 15 – Saturday, February 19, 2022
- Jones Aquatics Center, Knoxville, Tenn. (Eastern Time Zone)
- Defending Champion: Men- Florida (9x)
- Live Results
- Live Video (Watch ESPN)
- Championship Central
- Psych Sheets
- 2021 SEC Scoring Breakdown
- Teams: Georgia, Texas A&M, Florida, Tennessee, LSU, Auburn, Kentucky, Missouri, Alabama, Arkansas, South Carolina, Vanderbilt
Ben Dornan contributed reporting.
The Florida men broke the SEC record in the 800 free relay, swimming a 6:08.00.
The previous record was set by Florida back in 2019 at 6:09.14. Kieran Smith, Trey Freeman, Oskar Lindholm, and Alfonso Mestre broke the record at the 2022 SEC Championships.
| 2022 Florida Men (SEC Champs) | 2019 Florida Men (NCAA Champs) |
| Kieran Smith: 1:30.42 | Khader Baqlah: 1:32.32 |
| Trey Freeman: 1:31.96 | Kieran Smith: 1:31.64 |
| Oskar Lindholm: 1:32.29 | Trey Freeman: 1:33.58 |
| Alfonso Mestre: 1:33.33 | Maxime Rooney: 1:31.60 |
| Total: 6:08.00 | Total: 6:09.14 |
Smith and Freeman were the only two swimmers on both relays, but they were both over a second faster in 2022 than they were in 2019.
The 2022 relay would’ve won 2nd at NCAAs last year, behind Texas’ 6:07.25. It is also well under their 2021 NCAAs time of 6:10.91, which earned the Gators fourth.
With this time, the Florida men also got a meet record (previously 6:09.91, Florida), a pool record (previously 6:12.18, Florida), and a school record (previously 6:09.14).
Lindholm, a freshman, made an impressive SEC championship debut, proving he can compete on the same wavelength in America as he has in Denmark (European SCM Championships swimmer, 11-time Nordic Junior Championships medalist).
Smith’s split, 1:30.42, was the fastest of all the swimmers. His time puts him within striking distance of his own SEC and Florida record, 1:29.48, and Dean Farris’ NCAA record of 1:29.15.
I think you confused the Mestre brothers, didn’t Alberto swim the medley?
Hi! Thanks for the correction!
What an incredible talent Kieran Smith is; that 1:30.4 looked so smooth the time at the end seemed like an optical illusion. He just hydroplanes on the surface.