Florida leads after Day Two of SEC Swim & Dive

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The University of Florida is in the lead following the second day at the 2023 SEC Swimming & Diving Championships, held at Texas A&M's Rec Center Natatorium.

LSU earned the first win of the night in the women's 200 free relay, as Katarina Milutinovich, Maggie MacNeil, Peyton Curry and Miaela DeVilliers combined for the top time of 1:26.70. Alabama finished second with a time of 1:27.21, and Florida took third place with a time of 1:27.28.

Florida defended its title in the men's 200 free relay with an SEC Meet record time of 1:14.19 by Macguire McDuff, Josh Liendo, Adam Chaney and Alberto Mestre. Tennessee was the runner-up with a time of 1:15.34, followed by Auburn with a time of 1:15.94.

Rachel Stege of Georgia touched the wall first in the women's 500 free with a time of 4:36.31, just .04 seconds ahead of her older sister Kristen Stege of Tennessee (4:36.35). Emma Weyant of Florida captured third place with a time of 4:37.96.

In the men's 500 free, Jake Mitchell from Florida earned the gold medal with a time of 4:09.85. Jake Magahey of Georgia came in second place with a time of 4:10.03, and fellow Gator Mestre finished third with a time of 4:10.15.

Zoie Hartman of Georgia won her second title in the women's 200 IM, besting her winning time from two years ago by .10 with an NCAA A-cut time of 1:53.58. Josephine Fuller of Tennessee was second with a time of 1:55.01, while Lauren Poole of Kentucky finished third with a time of 1:55.12.

Texas A&M took the first two podium spots in the men's 200 IM, with Baylor Nelson posting the winning time of 1:40.86 and Koko Bratanov finishing second with a time of 1:42.50. Ben Patton of Missouri placed third with a time of 1:42.98.

With the third fastest time in history, Maggie MacNeil won the women's 50 free with an SEC and SEC Meet record time of 20.98. Finishing in second place with a time of 21.74 was Mona McSharry of Tennessee. Third place went to Kalia Antoniou of Alabama, with a time of 21.75.

Jordan Crooks of Tennessee set the pool and SEC Meet record in the men's 50 free with his time of 17.93, becoming the second swimmer in history to break 18 seconds. Florida earned the next two podium spots with Josh Liendo finishing second (18.39) and Adam Chaney claiming third (18.71).

Closing out the night, Brooke Schultz of South Carolina earned her fourth overall title in the women's 1-meter with a final score of 345.05. Maha Amer of Florida finished second with a score of 337.85. Chiara Pellacani of LSU took third place with a score of 330.95.

The 2023 SEC Swimming & Diving Championships continues Thursday, February 16 at 9:30 a.m. CT with the preliminaries for the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free and the men's 3-meter springboard, followed by the finals of those four events starting at 5:30 p.m. CT. All sessions can be viewed on SEC Network+.