Wednesday, March 18
Atlanta, GA
10 A.M. Prelims | 6 P.M. Finals
Florida Gators
31
vs
NCAA
Redshirt sophomore Michaela Mattes collected Florida’s first individual All-American honor of the week, earning 10th place in the 1,650 free on Wednesday at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Ga.
No. 10 Gators Open NCAA’s With Three Second-Team All-America Honors
Wednesday, March 18, 2026 | Women's Swimming & Diving
ATLANTA, Ga. – Florida's Michaela Mattes earned the Gators' first individual All-American honor of the week, as the women totaled three Second-Team All-American honors on day one of the 2026 NCAA Division I Championships at the McAuley Aquatic Center.
Following three events, the Gators sit 11th in the team standings with 31 points.
With the new structure and event order, the 1,650 free opened the morning session, followed by the 200 medley relay and 800 free relay timed finals. Instead of a B final, both individual and relay events are now scored based on morning preliminary times, with only the top-eight swimmers, divers and relay teams swimming in the finals session.
Mattes posted the second-fastest 1,650 free time of the morning with a 15:59.35. The redshirt sophomore went on to finish 10th overall, earning the second All-America honor of her career. Camille DeBoer also represented Florida in the mile, placing 22nd overall with a time of 16:14.09.
The Gators' 200 medley relay team of Catie Choate (24.34 back split), Anita Bottazzo (25.69 breast split), Beatriz Bezerra (23.11 fly split) and Lainy Kruger (22.19 free split) won heat one with a time of 1:35.33 to rank fourth heading into the finals session. The squad, who was originally seeded 20th, placed 11th overall to finish in the top-16 for 12 points and Second-Team All-America honors. Their finish also ranks No. 7 all-time in UF history.
The 800 free relay team of Julie Brousseau, Kruger, JoJo Ramey and Sylvia Statkevicius continued Florida's strong relay showing, putting together a 7:00.22 in the second heat to finish third in the morning session. The Gators improved from their 14th-place seed to finish 11th overall, doubling their projected points to 12 and earn Second-Team All-American honors.
UP NEXT
Individual swimming and diving events kick off tomorrow with the 100 fly, 400 IM, 200 free, 100 breast and the 200 free relay early heats beginning at 10 a.m., with 1-meter diving prelims following at 12:15 p.m. The top-eight finishers in each event advance to the 6 p.m. finals session. Diving finals will be split with Rounds 1-3 following the 400 IM and Rounds 4-6 taking place after the 100 breast. The top-eight seeded relays will conclude day two of NCAA's Championships action.
TEAM STANDINGS (Following day one)
All-Americans
Program Top-10 Times
Swimmers qualified for the championships either by winning their conference championship in an event with an established minimum time in that swim or by meeting the established minimum time for the events in which they entered. The invited divers earn their automatic spot at zone meets in the weeks prior. In total, the meet has a limit of 322 athletes divided equally by 21 events (18 swimming and three diving).
Stay Connected
Fans can stay up to date with the Florida Gator swimming & diving teams by following @GatorsSwimDv on X and catch up with the latest news and content of the team. Like the team's Facebook page at Florida Gators Swimming & Diving Fans can also keep up with the team by following them on Instagram at @Gatorsswimdv
Following three events, the Gators sit 11th in the team standings with 31 points.
With the new structure and event order, the 1,650 free opened the morning session, followed by the 200 medley relay and 800 free relay timed finals. Instead of a B final, both individual and relay events are now scored based on morning preliminary times, with only the top-eight swimmers, divers and relay teams swimming in the finals session.
Mattes posted the second-fastest 1,650 free time of the morning with a 15:59.35. The redshirt sophomore went on to finish 10th overall, earning the second All-America honor of her career. Camille DeBoer also represented Florida in the mile, placing 22nd overall with a time of 16:14.09.
2nd All-American honor for Michaela Mattes 🤩 pic.twitter.com/7oMSnlYDRE
— Gators Swimming & Diving (@GatorsSwimDv) March 18, 2026
The Gators' 200 medley relay team of Catie Choate (24.34 back split), Anita Bottazzo (25.69 breast split), Beatriz Bezerra (23.11 fly split) and Lainy Kruger (22.19 free split) won heat one with a time of 1:35.33 to rank fourth heading into the finals session. The squad, who was originally seeded 20th, placed 11th overall to finish in the top-16 for 12 points and Second-Team All-America honors. Their finish also ranks No. 7 all-time in UF history.
Choate, Bottazzo, Bezerra, and Kruger clock the program's seventh-fastest time in the 200 medley relay with 1:35.33🔥
— Gators Swimming & Diving (@GatorsSwimDv) March 18, 2026
🎥 ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/HMjTDSfaMW
The 800 free relay team of Julie Brousseau, Kruger, JoJo Ramey and Sylvia Statkevicius continued Florida's strong relay showing, putting together a 7:00.22 in the second heat to finish third in the morning session. The Gators improved from their 14th-place seed to finish 11th overall, doubling their projected points to 12 and earn Second-Team All-American honors.
UP NEXT
Individual swimming and diving events kick off tomorrow with the 100 fly, 400 IM, 200 free, 100 breast and the 200 free relay early heats beginning at 10 a.m., with 1-meter diving prelims following at 12:15 p.m. The top-eight finishers in each event advance to the 6 p.m. finals session. Diving finals will be split with Rounds 1-3 following the 400 IM and Rounds 4-6 taking place after the 100 breast. The top-eight seeded relays will conclude day two of NCAA's Championships action.
TEAM STANDINGS (Following day one)
- Virginia – 100.0
- Texas – 89.0
- Louisville – 59.0
- Stanford – 59.0
- Michigan – 56.0
- Tennessee – 52.0
- California – 49.0
- Indiana – 46.0
- Ohio State – 39.0
- Georgia – 34.0
- Florida – 31.0
- NC State – 28.0
All-Americans
- 1,650 Freestyle – Michaela Mattes*
- 200 Medley Relay – Catie Choate, Anita Bottazzo, Beatriz Bezerra, Lainy Kruger*
- 800 Free Relay – Julie Brousseau, Lainy Kruger, JoJo Ramey, Sylvia Statkevicius*
Program Top-10 Times
- 200 Medley Relay - Catie Choate, Anita Bottazzo, Beatriz Bezerra, Lainy Kruger – No. 7 (1:35.33)
- All prelim and final sessions will be streamed live on ESPN+ (subscription required)
- Live scoring will be available on the Meet Mobile app, Dive Meets and via the live results link on the women's swimming page on FloridaGators.com
- Thursday, March 19 | Heat sheet | Live results
- 100-yard butterfly
- 400-yard individual medley
- 200-yard freestyle
- 100-yard breaststroke
- 200-yard freestyle relay
- One-meter diving
- Friday, March 20 | Live results
- 100-yard backstroke
- 200-yard breaststroke
- 500-yard freestyle
- 50-yard freestyle
- 400-yard medley relay
- Three-meter diving
- Saturday, March 21 | Live results
- 200-yard individual medley
- 100-yard freestyle
- 200-yard butterfly
- 200-yard backstroke
- 400-yard freestyle relay
- Platform diving
Swimmers qualified for the championships either by winning their conference championship in an event with an established minimum time in that swim or by meeting the established minimum time for the events in which they entered. The invited divers earn their automatic spot at zone meets in the weeks prior. In total, the meet has a limit of 322 athletes divided equally by 21 events (18 swimming and three diving).
Stay Connected
Fans can stay up to date with the Florida Gator swimming & diving teams by following @GatorsSwimDv on X and catch up with the latest news and content of the team. Like the team's Facebook page at Florida Gators Swimming & Diving Fans can also keep up with the team by following them on Instagram at @Gatorsswimdv
Players Mentioned
Fly/Free
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Breast
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Free/IM
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Back
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Free/IM
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Fly/Free/IM
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Free/IM
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Back/Free
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Free
/ Women's Swimming & DivingGator Boys | Through the Fire
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