{"id":522733,"date":"2023-02-19T10:00:43","date_gmt":"2023-02-19T17:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=522733"},"modified":"2023-02-19T12:40:43","modified_gmt":"2023-02-19T19:40:43","slug":"florida-men-swim-way-into-ncaa-favorite-status-in-400-medley-relay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/florida-men-swim-way-into-ncaa-favorite-status-in-400-medley-relay\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Men Swim Way into NCAA Favorite Status in 400 Medley Relay"},"content":{"rendered":"

Florida Men Swim Way into NCAA Favorite Status in 400 Medley Relay<\/strong><\/p>\n

There isn\u2019t much that the Florida men\u2019s swimming and diving team hasn\u2019t done on the NCAA stage. Through a pristine decade of dominating the SEC, with Olympians and NCAA record holders, the Gators are in the upper crust of college programs.<\/p>\n

But what transpired in the men\u2019s 400 medley relay Friday night at Texas A&M\u2019s Student Recreation Aquatic Center<\/a> takes it to another level.<\/p>\n

Florida\u2019s foursome of Adam Chaney, Dillon Hillis, Josh Liendo<\/strong> and Macguire McDuff<\/strong> went 2:59.48 in winning the event. That\u2019s an SEC record, and SEC Championships record and buzzes within a quarter-second of the NCAA record.<\/p>\n

Fast as that time is, the how of it is arguably more impressive for what it says about Florida\u2019s program.<\/p>\n

First are the time jumps. Before last season, the SEC record had remained frozen in amber since the super-suited days of the 2009 NCAA Championships, belong to Auburn at 3:01.39. The Gators edged under that to 3:01.00 at NCAAs<\/a>, then the record has skipped 3:00 altogether to put pressure on the NCAA mark set by Texas in 2017 (2:59.22).<\/p>\n

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SEC Swimming<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Amazingly, there\u2019s only one holdover from last year\u2019s team, Chaney. They lost a stellar anchor leg in Kieran Smith<\/strong> to graduation, but the middle two legs have been replaced from within in winning the event three straight years.<\/p>\n
A comparison of the splits:<\/p>\n
2022 (3:01.00)<\/h4>\n\n
Adam Chaney 44.43<\/li>\n
Dillon Hillis 51.20<\/li>\n
Eric Friese 44.41<\/li>\n
Kieran Smith 40.96<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
2023 (2:59.48)<\/h4>\n
\n
Adam Chaney 44.17<\/li>\n
Dillon Hillis 50.63<\/li>\n
Josh Liendo 43.35<\/li>\n
Macguire McDuff 41.33<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Even with McDuff being slightly slower on the anchor than Smith, the other legs more than made up for it. Especially notable is the year-on-year improvement (Hillis, Chaney) and the ability to promote from within the team (Liendo for Friese). Three members of this year\u2019s team are underclassmen. The lone impending departure is Hillis, the fifth-year senior who won the 100 breast, though his replacement is likely to be Aleksas Savickas,<\/strong> a freshman who finished second in that event, .05 back.<\/p>\n
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SEC, SEC MEET, AND SCHOOL RECORD \ud83d\udd25
\nMen’s 400 Medley Relay Final:
\n1. Florida – 2:59.48 \ud83e\udd47
\nChaney, Hillis, Liendo, McDuff<\/p>\n
3-time defending champs \ud83d\udc0a pic.twitter.com\/bPDTPbhxmN<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Gators Swimming & Diving (@GatorsSwimDv) February 18, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

2022 (3:01.00)<\/h4>\n\nAdam Chaney 44.43<\/li>\nDillon Hillis 51.20<\/li>\nEric Friese 44.41<\/li>\n

2023 (2:59.48)<\/h4>\n\nAdam Chaney 44.17<\/li>\nDillon Hillis 50.63<\/li>\nJosh Liendo 43.35<\/li>\n