OH MY! Florida Men Swim 2:55.6 in the 400 Medley Relay, Break NCAA Record by 1.6 Seconds

2025 SEC Championships

• Dates: Tuesday, February 18–Saturday, February 22
  • Prelims: 9:30 am EST/ Finals 5:30 pm EST (Tuesday-5:00 EST)
• Location: Gabrielsen Natatorium — Athens, GA
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• Teams: Alabama, Arkansas (women), Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas*, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt (women)
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After Julian Smith broke the NCAA Record in the 100 yard breaststroke earlier in the session, an NCAA Record in the men’s 400 medley at the end of the Friday session felt within reach.

But the Gator men took “within reach” and left it in the dust, swimming 2:55.66 and knocking more than 1.6 seconds off the old record.

The team of Jonny Marshall, Julian Smith, Josh Liendo, and Alex Painter combined for the record-setting time. Of that relay, only Smith is a senior – and the anchor Painter is a freshman.

The former record was set last year by an Arizona State relay that was similarly loaded, including the best male swimmer in the world Leon Marchand, plus a backstroker Hubert Kos who won Olympic gold in Paris and a butterflier Ilya Kharun who won Olympic bronze in Paris.

But Florida made them look pedestrian by comparison.

The relay included three opening legs that all won those 100 yard races already at this meet. Marshall is the NCAA leader and Meet Record breaker with his 43.73 from the individual race – breaking Zane Waddell‘s 44.10 from 2020.

Smith, as mentioned above, broke the NCAA Record earlier in the night, and his – .56 second gap to the relay split is about as good as it gets.

Liendo was the real surprise here. He’s the Olympic silver medalist in long course and the defending NCAA Champion in short course, and he broke the Meet Record in the 100 fly on Thursday in 43.23. But he hasn’t looked at his peak for this meet (no prior best times), and yet he popped off a 42.12 on this relay.

That’s the fastest ever 400 medley relay split by .65 seconds, clearing his own time from last year’s SEC Championship meet. He’s one of only two guys who have split under 43 seconds in that event, and he crushed the best split ever in this race.

And then Painter, on the anchor, has a season-best flat star time of 42.65, but was almost two seconds better here, setting him up for a big 100 free on Saturday.

While Florida doesn’t have the depth to compete with the top three (Cal, Indiana, and Texas) for the NCAA team title, this relay might wind up as the most impressive men’s swim of the collegiate season.

Race Video: