Distance specialist Tyler Watson is set to use his fifth year of eligibility at Louisville, having updated his Instagram bio to reflect his plans for the 2023-24 campaign.
Watson spent the past four seasons at the University of Florida and entered the transfer portal in late April to explore options for using the fifth year of eligibility the NCAA granted to athletes after the COVID-shortened season of 2020-21.
A three-time NCAA qualifier, Watson finished 12th in the 1650 freestyle (14:46.27) and 21st in the 500 free (4:15.01) at the 2023 Men’s NCAA Championships, and racked up 58 points for the Gators at the SEC Championships this past season, helping propel UF to its 11th straight team title.
Individually he was third in the 1650 free (14:38.50), 10th in the 500 free (4:13.92) and 13th in the 400 IM (3:45.74) at the conference championships, setting lifetime bests in both freestyle events.
Watson’s Best Times (SCY):
- 500 free – 4:13.92 (2023 SEC Championships)
- 1000 free — 8:50.78 (split from 1650 @ 2023 NCAAs)
- 1650 free – 14:38.50 (2023 SEC Championships)
- 200 fly – 1:45.35 (2021 SEC Championships)
- 400 IM – 3:45.29 (2021 SEC Championships)
Although Watson may not have been one of Florida’s top scorers, his times make him a valuable pickup for Louisville. The team didn’t have anyone score in distance freestyle at NCAAs, and no Cardinal competed in the mile. At the conference level, his lifetime bests would’ve secured him second in the 1650, fifth in the 500, and eighth in the 400 IM at the 2023 ACCs.
Both his 500 and 1650 freestyle times would have been the fastest on the 2022-23 team, while his 400 IM would rank second behind only sophomore Tommy Bried.
Not only do Watson’s lifetime bests make him one of the strongest distance freestyle swimmers on the current roster, but they would also rank quite high on Louisville’s all-time list. His 500, 100, and 1650 free times would be second behind only Marcelo Acosta‘s times, which are the current team records. His 400 IM best would put him sixth.
Louisville has a relatively young team, with only a few rising seniors on the squad. However, they’ve been boosting their experience level through transfer pickups. Butterfly specialist Mateo Miceli recently announced his plans to transfer to Louisville from Alabama after an excellent sophomore season.
At the 2023 NCAAs, Louisville finished 13th with 92 points after placing third at ACCs, 26.5 points back of runner-up Virginia Tech.
Per the 2023-24 roster on the Gators’ website, the only swimmer returning to Gainesville for a fifth year across both the women’s and men’s teams is Brennan Gravely.
great swimmer, horrible tattoo.
Speaking of transfers, have we heard where Minakov is going? He put Stanford back in his IG bio so I was a bit confused.
Entering the transfer portal doesn’t mean you have to transfer. If I remember correctly he also was a no contact transfer, meaning that coaches weren’t allowed to reach out to him so he probably had somewhere specifically in mind, but it didn’t work out so he’s back. This is just my thoughts tho.