Friday, March 27
Atlanta, GA
10 A.M. Prelims | 6 P.M. Finals
Florida Gators
331
vs
NCAA
Ahmed Hafnaoui, Ahmed Jaouadi and Gio Linscheer score 51 points after going 1-2-5 in the 500 free during the Gators' meet at the NCAA Championship on Friday, March 27, 2026 at McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta, GA. (photo by Audrey Djuricich)
No. 4 Gators Within Reach of NCAA Title Following Friday Finals Statement
Saturday, March 28, 2026 | Men's Swimming & Diving
ATLANTA, Ga. – No. 4 Florida delivered statement swims in Friday's finals at the 2026 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming & Diving Championships at the McAuley Aquatic Center, capturing two national titles and four top-five finishes to give the Gators a huge momentum boost as they head into the final day trailing Texas by just 9.5 points, 331 to 340.5.
The 500 freestyle provided a huge momentum boost for Florida on Friday, as the Gators scored 51 points with three swimmers in the top five. Ahmed Hafnaoui captured his first individual NCAA title in 4:06.56, climbing from fourth in the morning with a 3.22 second drop to become the third Gator ever to win the event (Matt Cetlinski, 1986 & Conor Dwyer, 2010). Ahmed Jaouadi touched second in 4:06.90, improving by 2.18 seconds, while Gio Linscheer made his final collegiate race memorable with a fifth-place finish in 4:09.13 after dropping 2.15 seconds to move up two spots from his seventh seed. The trio now holds the 2-3-4 spots on UF's all-time top-10 list, with Hafnaoui also breaking Matt Sates' pool record from four years ago.
Josh Liendo kept the Gators rolling in the 50 free with his second individual NCAA title of the meet. The senior touched in 18.06 to shave a hundredth off his personal best to reclaim the title from 2023. He now has eight career individual national titles and looks to add a fourth-straight 100 free title tomorrow
Conor Gesing represented Florida in the 3-meter finals, closing out his junior NCAAs with a career-best 425.05 to earn fifth and his first All-American honor in the event. Gesing improved from his eighth-place prelim score (384.30) to earn 14 points.
The 400 medley relay team of Jonny Marshall (44.09 back split), Koen de Groot (50.05), Liendo (42.41) and Alexander Painter (44.09) closed out Florida's statement night with the No. 2 all-time performance in program history, combining for a 2:57.54 to finish third. Liendo's split ranks second all-time, trailing only his 42.12 from the 2025 SECs.
Painter and Charlie Hutchison also delivered points for Florida following the morning session, earning Second-Team All-American honors in their respective events. Painter placed 12th in the 50 free (18.82), while Hutchison finished 13th in the 500 free (4:12.13) to close out his NCAA Championships career.
Morning Session
100 Backstroke
Marshall and Scotty Buff both raced in the last heat, placing 17th (44.90) and 21st(44.97), respectively.
500 Freestyle
Senior Eric Brown touched in 4:16.27 for 28th place in his final collegiate event.
50 Freestyle
Buff matched his seed time of 19.07 to finish 22nd overall in his second individual event of the morning.
3-Meter Diving
Jesus Gonzalez (337.65) and Jesus Agundez Mora (317.20) finished 25th and 36th, respectively. Both will represent Florida on Saturday's platform events.
HEAR FROM WINNING GATORS
Ahmed Hafnaoui on being a Florida Gator and going 1-2-5 with his teammates…
"It means a lot for me. I arrived to Gainesville two months ago and we have been training so hard, so I think we deserve that."
On his race and strategy…
"The strategy is always the same, just go moderate on the first half and as fast as I can on the second. Plus it helps training with a World Champion (Jaouadi)."
Josh Liendo on thriving under pressure and being clutch all the time…
"I welcome the pressure and I love competing. I live for these moments.
On how much the 500 free motivate him..
"I was walking over and watching them do their thing, so I knew I just had to do my part."
UP NEXT
Saturday marks the final day of events, as the 200 IM, 100 free, 200 fly and 400 free relay morning events start at 10 a.m. Diving will climb the tower for platform at 12 p.m., with the top-eight finishers in each event and the top-eight seeded relays will compete in the 6 p.m. finals session. Platform finals will be split, with Rounds 1-2 following the 100 free and Rounds 3-5 taking place after the 200 back.
Top -10 TEAM STANDINGS (Following day three)
Podium (Top-8 finishes)
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.
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
The 500 freestyle provided a huge momentum boost for Florida on Friday, as the Gators scored 51 points with three swimmers in the top five. Ahmed Hafnaoui captured his first individual NCAA title in 4:06.56, climbing from fourth in the morning with a 3.22 second drop to become the third Gator ever to win the event (Matt Cetlinski, 1986 & Conor Dwyer, 2010). Ahmed Jaouadi touched second in 4:06.90, improving by 2.18 seconds, while Gio Linscheer made his final collegiate race memorable with a fifth-place finish in 4:09.13 after dropping 2.15 seconds to move up two spots from his seventh seed. The trio now holds the 2-3-4 spots on UF's all-time top-10 list, with Hafnaoui also breaking Matt Sates' pool record from four years ago.
AHMED'S GO ONE-TWO IN THE 500 FREE 🐊🐊 pic.twitter.com/ihuP0rhNq2
— Gators Swimming & Diving (@GatorsSwimDv) March 28, 2026
Josh Liendo kept the Gators rolling in the 50 free with his second individual NCAA title of the meet. The senior touched in 18.06 to shave a hundredth off his personal best to reclaim the title from 2023. He now has eight career individual national titles and looks to add a fourth-straight 100 free title tomorrow
Touched first 👊 pic.twitter.com/yLx5x3WZAD
— Gators Swimming & Diving (@GatorsSwimDv) March 28, 2026
Conor Gesing represented Florida in the 3-meter finals, closing out his junior NCAAs with a career-best 425.05 to earn fifth and his first All-American honor in the event. Gesing improved from his eighth-place prelim score (384.30) to earn 14 points.
The 400 medley relay team of Jonny Marshall (44.09 back split), Koen de Groot (50.05), Liendo (42.41) and Alexander Painter (44.09) closed out Florida's statement night with the No. 2 all-time performance in program history, combining for a 2:57.54 to finish third. Liendo's split ranks second all-time, trailing only his 42.12 from the 2025 SECs.
Painter and Charlie Hutchison also delivered points for Florida following the morning session, earning Second-Team All-American honors in their respective events. Painter placed 12th in the 50 free (18.82), while Hutchison finished 13th in the 500 free (4:12.13) to close out his NCAA Championships career.
Morning Session
100 Backstroke
Marshall and Scotty Buff both raced in the last heat, placing 17th (44.90) and 21st(44.97), respectively.
500 Freestyle
Senior Eric Brown touched in 4:16.27 for 28th place in his final collegiate event.
50 Freestyle
Buff matched his seed time of 19.07 to finish 22nd overall in his second individual event of the morning.
3-Meter Diving
Jesus Gonzalez (337.65) and Jesus Agundez Mora (317.20) finished 25th and 36th, respectively. Both will represent Florida on Saturday's platform events.
HEAR FROM WINNING GATORS
Ahmed Hafnaoui on being a Florida Gator and going 1-2-5 with his teammates…
"It means a lot for me. I arrived to Gainesville two months ago and we have been training so hard, so I think we deserve that."
On his race and strategy…
"The strategy is always the same, just go moderate on the first half and as fast as I can on the second. Plus it helps training with a World Champion (Jaouadi)."
Josh Liendo on thriving under pressure and being clutch all the time…
"I welcome the pressure and I love competing. I live for these moments.
On how much the 500 free motivate him..
"I was walking over and watching them do their thing, so I knew I just had to do my part."
UP NEXT
Saturday marks the final day of events, as the 200 IM, 100 free, 200 fly and 400 free relay morning events start at 10 a.m. Diving will climb the tower for platform at 12 p.m., with the top-eight finishers in each event and the top-eight seeded relays will compete in the 6 p.m. finals session. Platform finals will be split, with Rounds 1-2 following the 100 free and Rounds 3-5 taking place after the 200 back.
Top -10 TEAM STANDINGS (Following day three)
- Texas – 340.5
- Florida – 331.0
- Indiana – 254.0
- Arizona State – 245.0
- Tennessee – 199.0
- California – 186.0
- NC State – 175.5
- Michigan – 163.0
- Virginia – 110.0
- Stanford – 95.0
Podium (Top-8 finishes)
- National Champions
- Ahmed Jaouadi – 1,650 Freestyle
- Josh Liendo – 100 Butterfly & 50 Freestyle
- Ahmed Hafnaoui – 500 Freestyle
- Second Place
- Jonny Marshall, Koen de Groot, Scotty Buff, Josh Liendo – 200 Medley Relay
- Josh Liendo, Alexander Painter, Scotty Buff, Devin Dilger – 200 Freestyle Relay
- Ahmed Jaouadi – 500 Freestyle
- Third Place
- Jonny Marshall, Koen de Groot, Josh Liendo, Alexander Painter – 400 Medley Relay
- Fourth Place
- Ahmed Hafnaoui – 1,650 Freestyle
- Koen de Groot – 100 Breaststroke
- Jesus Agundez Mora – 1-Meter
- Fifth Place
- Gio Linscheer – 1,650 Freestyle & 500 Freestyle
- Conor Gesing – 3-Meter
- Sixth Place
- Scotty Buff – 100 Butterfly
- Conor Gesing – 1-Meter
- First Team
- Ahmed Jaouadi – 1,650 Freestyle & 500 Freestyle
- Ahmed Hafnaoui – 1,650 Freestyle & 500 Freestyle
- Gio Linscheer – 1,650 Freestyle & 500 Freestyle
- Josh Liendo – 100 Butterfly, 50 Freestyle
- Scotty Buff – 100 Butterfly
- Koen de Groot – 100 Breaststroke
- Jesus Agundez Mora – 1-Meter
- Conor Gesing – 1-Meter & 3-meter
- Jonny Marshall, Koen de Groot, Scotty Buff, Josh Liendo – 200 Medley Relay
- Josh Liendo, Alexander Painter, Scotty Buff, Devin Dilger - 200 Freestyle Relay
- Jonny Marshall, Koen de Groot, Josh Liendo, Alexander Painter – 400 Medley Relay
- Second Team
- Eric Brown - 1,650 Freestyle
- Charlie Hutchison – 400 IM & 500 Freestyle
- Gio Linscheer – 400 IM
- Alexander Painter – 50 Freestyle
- 50 Freestyle
- Josh Liendo – 18.06 – No. 2
- 500 Freestyle
- Ahmed Hafnaoui – 4:06.56 – No. 2
- Ahmed Jaouadi – 4:06.90– No. 3
- Gio Linscheer - 4:09.13 – No. 4
- 1,650 Freestyle
- Ahmed Jaouadi – 14:10.03 – No. 1
- Ahmed Hafnaoui - 14:22.64 – No. 3
- 100 Butterfly
- Josh Liendo – 42.49 – No. 1
- Scotty Buff – 43.67 – No. 3
- 200 Freestyle Relay
- Josh Liendo, Alexander Painter, Scotty Buff, Devin Dilger – 1:13.30 – No. 2
- 400 Medley Relay
- Jonny Marshall, Koen de Groot, Josh Liendo, Alexander Painter – 400 Medley Relay – 2:57.54 – No. 2
- NCAA
- Ahmed Jaouadi – 1,650 Freestyle - 14:10.03
- Josh Liendo – 100 Butterfly – 42.49
- U.S. Open
- Ahmed Jaouadi – 1,650 Freestyle - 14:10.03
- Josh Liendo – 100 Butterfly - 42.49
- Meet
- Ahmed Jaouadi – 1,650 Freestyle - 14:10.03
- Josh Liendo – 100 Butterfly - 42.49
- Program
- Ahmed Jaouadi – 1,650 Freestyle - 14:10.03
- Josh Liendo – 100 Butterfly - 42.49
- Pool
- Ahmed Jaouadi – 1,650 Freestyle - 14:10.03
- Josh Liendo – 100 Butterfly - 42.49
- Ahmed Hafnaoui – 500 Freestyle – 4:06.56
- 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
- Saturday, March 28 | 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.
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
Diver
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Free/IM
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Back/Fly/Free
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Breast
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Free
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Diver
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Diver
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Free
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Free/IM
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Free
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Fly/Free
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Breast/Free/IM
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Back
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Free
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