2023 SEC SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Tuesday, February 14 – Saturday, February 18, 2023
- Rec Center Natatorium, College Station, TX.
- Defending Champions:
- Women: Tennessee (1x)
- Men: Florida (10x)
- Championship Central
- Women’s Fan Guide
- Men’s Fan Guide
- Psych Sheets
- Live Results
- Live Video
- SwimSwam Day 4 Live Recap
Courtesy: tamuswim
In the last event of the 2023 SEC Championships penultimate finals session, the Florida Gators obliterated the SEC and championship records in the men’s 400 medley relay. The team of Adam Chaney, Dillon Hillis, Josh Liendo, and Macguire McDuff torched a 2:59.48. Not only does that time lower the SEC record they set just last year by 1.52 seconds, it also scares the NCAA record which Texas set back in 2017.
Their lineup showcases the star power they’ve collected in Gainesville, as the first three legs all won SEC titles in the individual version of their stroke. The 100 free hasn’t been contested yet, but after dropping lifetime bests in the 50 and 200 free, McDuff should be in the mix for a spot on the podium.
Split Comparison: 400 Medley Relay SEC Record
| 2023 SEC Championships | 2022 NCAA Championships | ||
| Adam Chaney, Back | 44.17 | Adam Chaney, Back | 44.43 |
| Dillon Hillis, Breast | 50.63 | Dillon Hillis, Breast | 51.20 |
| Josh Liendo, Fly | 43.35 | Eric Friese, Fly | 44.41 |
| Macguire McDuff, Free | 41.33 | Kieran Smith, Free | 40.96 |
| 2:59.48 | 3:01.00 |
Only Chaney and Hillis return from the 2022 NCAAs relay, and both were faster here than they were last March. In fact, Chaney’s 44.17 lead off is a lifetime best, shaving a hundredth off his previous best, which he’d swum earlier in the session to win the 100 backstroke.
Liendo’s 43.35 split is also incredibly fast. It’s just a hundredth off the fastest 100 fly split of all-time, which Joe Schooling owns at 43.34. After his individual race on day 3, Liendo said that he still needed to clean up his turns–clearly, he feels that he still has room to improve in the race and in yards. Thus, this is another record we should keep an eye on come NCAAs.
This is the third time in a row that the Gators have won the 400 medley relay at SECs.
Makes me appreciate that 2017 Texas relay. Things have gotten a lot faster, but all four of those guys could still be in the conversation for an individual event win in 2023.
Worth mentioning that Beefy T Shields split 43.5 in 2012 (!)
I think… can someone fact check that?
Yes he did. 43.56.
Yep. 43.56.
Dillon Hillis with a loooooong exchange, Josh Liendo with a .01 exchange, maybe even a DQ, but lucky it didn’t get called. They’ll clean it up for NCAAs.
No that’s called an almost perfect exchange
100 free will be between liendo crooks and caribe..
So is Dressle’s 42.80 100 Fly the most impressive of his records? If the fastest relay split is still .54 off his individual time…
Liendo has prolly been motivated to beat that record since day 1. Because of that I thin he’ll get before he’s done. Regardless people need to give more respect to how actually insane that 42.8
Yeah i guess you could say that. I also thought it was interesting that Dressel didn’t have the fastest split so I checked it out. Interestingly enough from what I could see, it seems that at all of his NCAAs and SECs, he’s swam every leg of the medley relay except for fly😂.
Funny, I’ve always thought the 42.8 was almost on par with 17.6, if not on the same level. Part of why it feels so impressive is that Staab’s suited 44.0 kept evading the Conger / Schooling duo, and then when Shields and Schooling went 43. high, it seemed like such a big deal.
Then Dressel tries out fly for the first time since high school and within two years he goes 42. Like wut
Now that 44s are nothing special and 18 mid-lows are becoming common it’s hard to re-orient my mind to the new post-Dressel state of SCY swimming.
But 42.8 is nuts. I mean, just watch that swim.
Another reason 42.8 is bonkers: in 2013, it would have nearly made the A final (42.74) in the 100 free.