GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Members of the Florida men's and women's swimming and diving team secured two silver medals in the first two days of the U.S. Open Championships.
Kieran Smith and Josh Liendo were the two Gators to collect medals. Smith produced a silver medal finish in the 400m free while Liendo secured his spot on the podium in the 50m free.
Current Gators
Emma Weyant,
Eric Brown and
Jake Mitchell all participated in a final during Thursday's evening session.
Additionally, Gator signees Sofia Plaza, Addison Reese and Gracie Weyant all competed on Day 2. The top finish by a Gator signee was credited to Reese as she finished 33
rd in the prelims of the 200m IM.
All results from Day 1 and 2 of the U.S. Open can be found in the link below.
2023 U.S. Open Championships
Thursday, November 30
Finals:
400m Free:
Women's B-Final: E. Weyant, the current junior, cut down on her time from the prelims by two seconds, resulting in a third-place finish.
Men's A-Final: Smith became the second athlete associated with the Gators to secure a silver medal in the 400m free as his time of 3:48.72 was just over one second behind the top finisher.
Men's B-Final: In a race in which three different swimmers took the lead at one point, all three Gator representatives, Mitchell, Finke and Brown, placed first, second and third, respectively. Mitchell used a strong kick in the final 100m to capture a mark of 3:52.89 and earn the first place finish. Finke remained steady throughout the contest and used his signature finish in the last 50m to move from fifth to second in total time 3:53.09. Brown, the sophomore from Qubec, Canada, also climbed the leaderboard moving from eighth to his eventual third place finish.
200m IM:
Men's B-Final: Mark Szaranek tallied a fourth place finish in the B-final, grabbing a time of 2:01.89.
50m Free:
Men's A-Final: For the second year in a row Josh Liendo collected a silver medal in the 50m free, swimming a 21.90, only a tenth of a second behind first.
Men's B-Final: Caleb Dressel, who holds the American Record in the 50m free, finished in first-place with a time of 21.99.
Prelims:
400m Free: E. Weyant advanced to the B-final with a time of 4:14.53.
On the men's side, the Gators had a total of four current and former athletes finished in the top 15 for the 400m free. Smith tallied a first place finish behind a 3:50.69 finish and punching his ticket to the A-final. Finke, Mitchell and Brown recorded 10
th, 11
th and 14
th placements, respectively, and all advanced to the B-final.
200m IM: Freshman
Molly Mayne registered a time of 2:19.43. She will continue competition on Friday in the 100m and 200m breaststroke.
A trio of 2024 Gator signees Reese, G. Weyant and Plaza completed strong outings placing 33
rd, 44
th, and 48
th.
The only Gator competing in the Men's 200m IM, Szaranek, advanced to the B-final with a prelim finish of 13
th, completing the event in 2:02.18.
50m Free: Senior Natalie Hinds clocked a 25.94 for a finish of 40
th. Reese, swimming in her second event, finished 64th.
A trio of Gators qualified for various finals in the 50m free. Liendo collected a fourth-place finish, swimming a 22.07 on route to the A-final. Dressel, former Gator as well as American and U.S. Open record holder in the 50m free, finished 13
th and advanced to the B-final. Lastly, junior McDuff notched a finish of 21
st good for a spot in the C-final with a preliminary time of 22.56.
Wednesday, November 29
Finals:
800m Free: Robert Finke also recorded a top five finish in the event as the former Gator student-athlete swam a 7:54.90, good for a placement of fourth.
