Josh Liendo Posts 19.3 50 Free, 42.8 100 Free, and 46.3 100 Fly as Florida Sweeps Georgia

Florida vs. Georgia

  • Oct. 27, 2023
  • Stephen C. O’Connell Center
    • Gainesville, Florida
  • SCY (25 yards)
  • Team scores
    • Men: No. 3 Florida 175, No. 9 Georgia 125
    • Women: No. 7 Florida 183, No. 13 Georgia 117
  • PDF results

Florida sprint star Josh Liendo posted season-best times in the 50 free (19.30), 100 free (42.84), and 100 fly (46.30) as the Gator men and women swept Georgia in their SEC opener on Friday.

Liendo now ranks 2nd in the NCAA this season in the 50 free behind Arizona State fifth year Jack Dolan (19.02), 6th in the 100 free, and 6th in the 100 fly. The Canadian standout also split 18.86 on the anchor leg of Florida’s 200 medley relay (1:26.53) along with Jonny Marshall (22.27 back), Aleksas Savickas (24.32 breast), and Scotty Buff (21.08 fly).

Last season at his first NCAA Championships, Liendo won the 100 free title in 40.28 while adding runner-up finishes in the 50 free (18.40) and 100 fly (43.40).

Marshall and Savickas claimed individual victories in the 200 back (1:44.38) and 200 breast (1:59.01), respectively. Buff, the top freshman recruit in the country, placed 3rd in the 100 fly (47.95) and 5th in the 50 free (20.67).

Senior distance specialists Jake Magahey led the way for Georgia with an impressive triple, collecting 1st-place finishes in the 500 free (4:21.23), 1000 free (8:59.36), and 200 fly (1:45.37). He now ranks 7th nationally this season in the 1000 free.

Georgia sophomore Ruard van Renen and fifth year Zach Hils also tallied top-10 times in the 100 back (46.66, 5th in NCAA) and 200 IM (1:47.24, 10th in NCAA). In the men’s 200 free, Georgia freshman Tomas Koski (1:35.56) edged Florida senior Jake Mitchell (1:35.64) in a tight battle.

On the women’s side, Emma Weyant went her fastest 200 IM time in four years with a winning mark of 1:58.13, just off her personal-best 1:58.07 from 2018. The Florida junior now ranks 9th in the NCAA this season in the event.

Isabel Ivey triumphed in the 100 back (52.59), a couple seconds off her lifetime best (50.42 from 2019) but still good for 11th in the NCAA this season.

Top freshman recruit Bella Sims contested longer-distance freestyle events for her first time as a Gator, earning wins in the 200 free (1:45.84) and 500 free (4:44.36). She now ranks 13th and 12th in the NCAA in those events, respectively. Sims split a season-best 24.94 leading off the Florida women’s 200 medley relay (1:38.68) along with Molly Mayne (27.85), Olivia Peoples (23.35), and Micayla Cronk (22.54). Sims also split 49.65 leading off the victorious 400 free relay (3:17.19) along with Ivey (48.71), Peoples (49.95), and Cronk (48.88).

Fifth-year Zoie Hartman took home two victories for the Georgia women, sweeping the 100 breast (1:01.30) and 200 breast (2:13.37). Georgia junior Dune Coetzee (9:43.13) beat teammate Abby McCulloh (9:44.40) in the 1000 free (9:43.13), with her 9:35.69 from earlier this season ranking 2nd in the NCAA behind Stanford’s Aurora Roghair.

The Georgia women were racing without Rachel Stege, who took silver in the 800 and gold in the 1500 at the Pan American Games last week, both in big new personal best times.

Florida returns to action next week in Knoxville against Tennessee and Kentucky while Georgia will aim to bounce back versus Auburn.

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Seth
11 months ago

Amazing to swim those times untapered.

Swammer
11 months ago

Sweep? Doesn’t look like a sweep to me. UVA got swept tho…

Voice of Reason
Reply to  Swammer
11 months ago

Referring to both men’s and women’s teams winning 🙄

Hoosierfan
11 months ago

Hello swimswam IU had a crazy fast tri meet a week ago when will the article be up

chickenlamp
11 months ago

did the pros swim anything at this meet?

Lap Counter
11 months ago

No tech suits by any swimmers

Rachel Stege wasn’t the only swimmer on either team missing due to Pan Ams. Ian Grum missing as well as several Gators, including Gold medalist Laur, Chaney, etc.

Georgia has some big holes but 10-15th place teams just need solid relays and a couple swimmers to score well. It doesn’t take a lot of points!

I miss the ISL
11 months ago

Not having Rachel Stege did not help the UGA women. Both UF and UGA men look really good – I think UF is definitely a top 3 team this year and UGA is probably top 10, if not above 10 they’re floating around 10 for sure. Koski beating Jake Mitchell was a surprise. UF men sprint is insane right now also.

oxyswim
Reply to  I miss the ISL
11 months ago

UF men certainly have the talent of a top 3 team, but their men should have been there last year too, and they underperformed a bit at NCs in individual events. If they’re not entirely on this year IU or NC State will bump them back to 4th or 5th.

Andrew
Reply to  oxyswim
11 months ago

IU i agree with but NC State looks like the same old team. Florida will smash NCS this year

Aquajosh
Reply to  oxyswim
11 months ago

Last year they didn’t have any backstrokers besides Chaney and no one at all in the 200. This year they have several backstrokers that should qualify for NCs, and having Scotty Buff should more than make up for the loss of Friese. Couple that with guys like McDuff and Laur stepping up to the US National Team and you have a new look Florida team that should be much deeper at NCs this year.

About Riley Overend

Riley is an associate editor interested in the stories taking place outside of the pool just as much as the drama between the lane lines. A 2019 graduate of Boston College, he arrived at SwimSwam in April of 2022 after three years as a sports reporter and sports editor at newspapers …

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