Florida To Kick Off 2023-24 Season Friday

Courtesy: Florida Athletics

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida men’s and women’s swimming and diving is set to open up its season Friday, Sept. 29, on the road and in three different locations. The Gators will face Nova Southeastern and Florida Atlantic in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Friday, Sept. 29. The women’s team will go against SEC opponent Vanderbilt the same day in Nashville, Tennessee. Diving heads to Coral Gables, Florida in a diving only meet to compete against Miami.

The men are coming off an 11th straight SEC Championship and sixth-place finish at last year’s NCAA Championships where the Gators set three NCAA relay records (200 Free Relay, 400 Medley Relay, 400 Free Relay) and four National Championships.

The Gator women were crowned SEC Champions for the first time since 2009, and finished ninth at the NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships. Florida earned its first top-10 finish since the 2014-15 season.

Preseason Gator Splashes

• Anthony Nesty opens up his sixth season as the men’s head coach and third season leading the women’s program.
• Nesty was named the SEC Men’s and Women’s Coach of the year, becoming just the second coach in program history to win both honors in the same season.
• At the 2023 SEC Championships, for the ninth time in program history and first time in 30 years, both the men’s and women’s team won SEC Championships during the same season. The Gators are the first SEC team to sweep both titles in the same year in 15 years.
• Florida finished in the top-10 of both men’s and women’s NCAA Championships for the first time since 2014-15.
• Florida returns nine All-Americans on the men’s side, including Adam Chaney, Joshua Liendo, and Macguire McDuff. The Gators return eight All-Americans on the women’s side, including Zoe Dixon and Emma Weyant.
• Florida adds 26 newcomers each on the men’s and women’s side, including SwimSwam’s No. 1 Recruit Bella Sims and All-American transfer Isabel Ivey.
• 2023 SEC Freshman of the Year’s Josh Liendo and Zoe Dixon both return on the swimming side.