2026 College Swimming Previews: #4 Florida Men Chomping at the Bit for Top Three NCAA Finish

By Reid Carlson on SwimSwam

It’s that time of the year again. SwimSwam will be previewing the top 12 men’s and women’s teams (and then some) from the 2025 NCAA Championships. Follow along with the College Swimming Preview Channel. Want to read even more? Check out the latest edition of the SwimSwam magazine. 

#4 University of Florida Gators

Key Losses: Julian Smith (33 NCAA points, 5 NCAA relays), Mason Laur (6 NCAA points), Jake Mitchell (1 NCAA relay), Oskar Lindholm (1 NCAA relay)

Key Additions: Ahmed Jaouadi (Tunisia – distance free), Koen de Groot (Netherlands – breaststroke), Nil Cadevall (Spain – breaststroke), HM Marvin Johnson (TN – sprint free & fly), Charlie Hutchison (Great Britain – free & IM), BOTR Jordan Willis (NC – breaststroke), Jesus Mora (Mexico – diving)

Note: Ahmed Hafnaoui is not yet listed on Florida’s roster and thus has been left out of this preview.

GRADING CRITERIA

Over the years, we’ve gone back and forth on how to project points, ranging from largely subjective rankings to more data-based grading criteria based on ‘projected returning points.’ We like being as objective as possible, but we’re going to stick with the approach we’ve adopted post-COVID. The “stars” will rely heavily on what swimmers actually did last year, but we’ll also give credit to returning swimmers or freshmen who have posted times that would have scored last year.

Since we only profile the top 12 teams in this format, our grades are designed with that range in mind. In the grand scheme of college swimming and compared to all other college programs, top 12 NCAA programs would pretty much all grade well across the board. But in the interest of making these previews informative, our grading scale is tough – designed to show the tiers between the good stroke groups, the great ones, and the 2015 Texas fly group types.

• 5 star (★★★★★) – a rare, elite NCAA group projected to score 25+ points per event
• 4 star (★★★★) – a very, very good NCAA group projected to score 15-24 points per event
• 3 star (★★★) – a good NCAA group projected to score 5-14 points per event
• 2 star (★★) – a solid NCAA group projected to score 1-4 points per event
• 1 star (★) –  an NCAA group that is projected to score no points per event, though that doesn’t mean it’s without potential scorers – they’ll just need to leapfrog some swimmers ahead of them to do it

We’ll grade each event discipline: sprint free (which we define to include all the relay-distance freestyle events, so 50, 100 and 200), distance free, IM, breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly and diving. Use these grades as a jumping-off point for discussion, rather than a reason to be angry.

Also, keep in mind that we are publishing many of these previews before teams have posted finalized rosters. We’re making our assessments based on the best information we have available at the time of publication, but we reserve the right to make changes after publication based on any new information that may emerge regarding rosters. If that does happen, we’ll make certain to note the change.

2024-2025 Lookback

The University of Florida men finished the 2024-2025 season with a 4th-place finish at the NCAA Championships and a 2nd-place finish at the SEC Championships, marking Florida’s first loss at the conference level since 2012 following the addition of the University of Texas to the SEC.

The Gators swam the fastest 400 medley relay in history at the SEC Championships with a 2:55.66. At the NCAA Championships, Florida put up a 2:56.10 to take the title by nearly three seconds and demolish the Championship Record. Florida was also incredible in the 200 medley relay at NCAAs, where they posted the fastest time in history with a 1:20.05, though the relay was ultimately disqualified for an early jump on the butterfly leg. Even so, the Gator men posted a 1:20.66 at the SEC Championships, which would have placed third at NCAAs. Each of Florida’s three other relays placed top-8 at the NCAA Championships, taking 3rd in the 200 freestyle relay, 3rd in the 400 freestyle relay, and 8th in the 800 freestyle relay.

Florida produced two individual NCAA Champions in 2025 to culminate in three titles. First, Josh Liendo won the 100 butterfly in 43.06, eclipsing his previous lifetime best by 0.01. A few events later, Julian Smith won the 100 breaststroke in 49.55, just 0.04 off the NCAA, US Open, and American Record he set at the SEC Championships in February. Liendo closed hard in the 100 freestyle, passing Tennessee’s Jordan Crooks on the final stretch to hit the wall in 39.99 to become just the third man ever to go sub-40.

Backstroke specialist Jonny Marshall collected 31 individual points with 2nd- and 5th-place finishes in the 100 and 200 backstrokes, respectively. Marshall posted a blistering 43.22 in the 100 backstroke to notch the second-fastest time ever behind only the champion Hubert Kos of Texas, who touched in 43.20, each of them undercutting Luca Urlando‘s 43.35 from 2022.

Distance specialist Gio Linscheer collected 19 individual points with 12th-place finishes in the 400 IM and 500 free, as well as a 9th-place finish in the 1650 free. Scotty Buff, Alexander Painter, and Aleksas Savickas each also brought in double-digit individual points for the Gators, with Mason Laur and diver Conor Gesing also getting points on the board.

The SEC used to belong to the Florida Gators, then came the Texas Longhorns. On the national level, the University of Indiana came up big in 2025 thanks to a huge 117 points from diving alone; however, 98 of those points graduated. Not known for its divers, what can the Gators do to break into the top-three at NCAAs in 2026?

Sprint Free: ★★★★

Three-time defending champion in the 100 freestyle, Josh Liendo returns for his senior year as one of the greatest sprinters in the NCAA. Liendo is also the 2024 NCAA champion in the 50 free (and the runner-up in 2023 and 2025), as well as the 2024 and 2025 NCAA champion in the 100 butterfly. Liendo cranked a 39.99 in March to defend his 100 free title and become just the third man ever to break the 40-second barrier in the event. Liendo is easily Florida’s top sprinter and has also been as fast as 1:30.19 in the 200 freestyle with a flying start on Florida’s 800 freestyle relay from the 2025 SEC Championships.

Scotty Buff is another returning veteran who specializes in the 50 free, holding a lifetime best of 18.73, which he achieved at the 2025 SEC Championships. Though Buff did not swim the individual 100 freestyle at NCAAs in 2025, he did split a 41.46 on the 400 freestyle relay, helping the Gators to a third-place finish, and also posted a 41.21 split on the 400 free relay at the SEC Championships.

When Macguire McDuff departed Florida in 2024 with one year of eligibility remaining, we were left to wonder who would step up and take his place. McDuff had been an integral part of all five of Florida’s NCAA relays in 2024 and helped the Gators win gold in two of them. Enter Alexander Painter. In 2025, Painter distinguished himself as a relay standout and as an individual competitor. In his freshman season, Painter posted times of 18.60, 41.41, and 1:31.13 in the 50, 100, and 200 freestyles, respectively. At NCAAs, Painter made the ‘B’ finals in both the 50 and the 200 freestyles and just missed out on the 100 freestyle.

Newcomers Marvin Johnson and Charlie Hutchison will also buoy Florida’s sprint free crew and either could replace Julian Smith on the freestyle relays, with Johnson appearing better suited to the 200 and 400 free relays, while Hutchison leans more towards middle-distance and therefore the 800 free relay, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Johnson has been as fast as 19.55/43.04 in the 50 and 100 freestyles, respectively, putting him just outside of what it took to score at SECs in each event. Hutchison, who is from Great Britain, posted a 1:46.84 over the summer in the 200 LCM freestyle, which converts to a 1:33.38 in yards.

Sophomore Paul Dardis holds lifetime bests of  19.69 and 42.93 in the 100 and 200 freestyles, respectively, both of which fall just outside of what it took to score at SECs in 2025. Devin Dilger holds similar times of 19.53 and 42.72 and scored one point in the 50 free at SECs in 2025.

Distance Free: ★★★★½

Incoming freshman and 2025 world champion in the 800 and 1500 meter freestyles, Ahmed Jaouadi, is set to make an immediate impact on the Gators’ distance crew. The young Tunisian joins a training group consisting of Katie Ledecky, Bobby Finke, and, reportedly, 2021 Olympic champion Ahmed Hafnoui, though Hafnoui is not yet listed on Florida’s roster. Jaouadi’s LCM lifetime bests converted to SCY equate to 1:37.98, 4:09.79, 8:31.91, 14:11.29 in the 200, 400/500, 800/1000, and 1500/1650 freestyles, respectively. The converted time for the 1650 undercuts the current NCAA Record held by Finke.

Hafnaoui’s unknown status leaves him out of this preview for now, though it goes without saying that if he’s competing, distance free gets bumped up to five stars. He could win, or go give Jaouadi a run for his money, in the 1650 free and would arguably be favored in the 500 free at his best.

Rising senior Gio Linscheer was Florida’s top-scoring distance swimmer at the 2025 NCAA Championships, earning a total of 19 points with his highest finish being 9th-place in the 1650 free. Linscheer also scored in the 500 free and 400 IM at NCAAs. Fellow fourth-year Eric Brown didn’t quite score at NCAAs, though he was invited in the 400 IM, 500 free, and 1650 free. Brown was just outside of getting second swims in the 400 IM and 1650, in which he placed 18th and 22nd, respectively. At SECs, Brown scored 37 points. Sophomore Luke Corey did not compete at NCAAs in 2025, though he picked up 18 points at the SEC Championships and earned NCAA ‘B’ cuts in the 500 and the mile.

Charlie Hutchison will also likely play a role in Florida’s 500 crew. A versatile swimmer that also specializes in IM, Hutchison has been 3:40.19 in the 400 SCM freestyle, which converts to a 4:11.64 in yards, which would have scored at NCAAs in 2025.

Jaouadi and Linscheer are both contenders for the ‘A’ final in the mile at NCAAs, while Brown and Corey could scrape into the ‘B’ final. If Linscheer replicates his ‘B’ final finish in the 500, and Jaouadi places at least as high, the Gators are set for a great showing in the distance freestyles this season.

Backstroke: ★★★★

Jonny Marshall leads the way as Florida’s top backstroker, having placed 2nd in the 100 and 5th in the 200 backstroke at the 2025 NCAA Championships. In fact, Marshall swam the second-fastest time ever in the 100 backstroke in his silver-medal effort, stopping the clock in 43.22, just .02 behind champion Hubert Kos of Texas. Marshall holds a lifetime best of 1:35.85 in the 200 backstroke, making him the second-fastest in the NCAA behind only Kos.

Scotty Buff placed 32nd in the 100 back at NCAAs in 2025 and holds a lifetime best of 45.20. Buff placed 7th in the 100 back at SECs and is currently Florida’s second-best sprint backstroker. With the 100 fly and 100 back being on the same day, there is a chance Buff will shift his focus to the 100 freestyle in order to spread his races out more, and this might make sense for Florida as the Gators have Aiden Norman and Caleb Maldari, both NCAA qualifiers in 2025. As a freshman, Norman placed 19th in the 200 back at NCAAs in 1:39.96 and 41st in the 100 back with a 46.19, just off his lifetime best of 45.96 from SECs, where he scored 34 points. Maldari, a junior, has a lifetime best of 45.96 in the 100 and 1:40.05 in the 200 backstroke and scored 41 points between the two events at SECs.

Breaststroke: ★★★

Aleksas Savickas and Koen de Groot will lead the Gators’ breaststroke crew in 2026 and vie for the open positions on the 200 and 400 medley relays. Savickas is the defending SEC champion in the 200 breaststroke, while de Groot is untested in yards, though he has personal bests of 26.71 and 56.86 in the 50 and 100 SCM breaststrokes, which convert to 24.06 and 51.22, respectively.

New additions Nil Cadevall and Jordan Willis both have potential to supplement Florida at the conference level and could be vital in their sophomore and junior years after Savickas and de Groot graduate, though their current times put them well outside of NCAA consideration.

Butterfly: ★★★½

With two returning NCAA ‘A’ finalists in the 100 fly, one a two-time defending champion in Josh Liendo (43.06) and the other the fifth-place finisher, Scotty Buff (43.95), the Gator men are stacked in the 100 fly. Despite this, Florida does not have a single swimmer in the 200 fly at NCAAs or ACCs in 2025.

In 2025, Matthew Cairns came close to the NCAA ‘B’ cut in the 200 fly, though there remains a high chance that Florida goes another year without a swimmer in the 200 fly at NCAAs. At age 17, Luke Corey achieved a 1:49.21 in the 200 fly and could potentially take up the 200 fly, though that would necessitate the unfortunate double of the 200 fly and the mile. Beyond these two, Florida will either need to get creative and pull someone else into the event or consider skipping it again, which, in reality, didn’t seem to hurt them too much in 2025 and probably won’t be an issue this season, though it is an event to recruit for in the classes of 2026 and 2027.

IM: ★★

Florida’s freestyle crew, in part, supplements its IM crew with some strong competitors in the 400 IM, including Gio Linscheer and Charlie Hutchison. Linscheer is an NCAA ‘B’ finalist in the 400 IM in 2025, and Hutchison is one of Great Britain’s best up-and-coming IM talents with lifetime bests of 1:56.07 in the 200 SCM IM and 4:03.33 in the 400 SCM IM, which convert to 1:44.56 and 3:39.21, respectively, in yards.

Similar to butterfly, it is possible the Gators will score zero points at NCAAs in the 200 IM in 2026, though they could make up for it in the 400 IM with Linscheer and Hutchison both scoring in the ‘B’ final, or even one of them sneaking into the ‘A’ final.

Senior Eric Brown also sits on the periphery of second-swim status at the national level with a personal best of 3:39.89, which earned him an 18th-place finish at NCAAs in 2025. Aleksas Savickas utilizes the 200 IM as his third event, though he placed 48th at NCAAs in 2025. Similarly, Caleb Maldari is a potential SEC scorer in the 200 IM, though he is far out of NCAA scoring status in the 200 IM.

Diving: ★★

Conor Gesing scored three points at NCAAs thanks to a 14th-place finish on the 1-meter board, though he did not score on the platform. Peyton Donald was also invited to NCAAs, though his highest placing was 22nd on the 3-meter board as well as 39th on the 1-meter. Jesus Gonzalez competed in three events on the national stage and nearly scored on the platform with a 19th-place finish. Gonzalez also finished 27th on the 1-meter board and 42nd on the 3-meter board. The Gators also return Elisha Dees, though he did not compete at SECs or NCAAs in 2025.

Freshman Jesus Mora injects a healthy dose of optimism for Florida’s diving crew. Mora, who represents Mexico internationally, won a gold medal in the Boys’ 3-meter synchronized event at the 2024 World Aquatics Junior Diving Championships.

Diving is clearly Florida’s biggest weakness, which is where 2025 NCAA third-place finisher Indiana University excelled, earning a total of 117 points versus Florida’s 3, though IU graduated its top divers, Carson Tyler and Quinn Henninger, who accounted for a total of 98 points in 2025.

Relays: ★★★★

Note that the grading system doesn’t align perfectly for relays as double points.

Relay grading system:

• 5 star (★★★★★) – 31+ points per relay event
• 4 star (★★★★) – 22-30 relay points per event
• 3 star (★★★) – 12-21 relay points per event
• 2 star (★★) – 5-11 relay points per event
• 1 star (★) – 0-4 relay points per event

Florida takes a couple of hits on its relays with the loss of Julian Smith who contributed the fastest breaststroke splits in the field in both medley relays (22.14 and 48.95, respectively) as well as a 40.42 split on the 400 freestyle relay and a 1:29.92 on the 800 freestyle relay, making him one of five men to split sub-1:30 and the fastest member of the Gator’s squad by over two seconds.

Aleksas Savickas and Koen de Groot are the top candidates to fill in for Smith on the medley relays. De Groot does not have any official yards times logged yet, though de Groot’s SCM times in the 50 and 100 breaststroke are faster than Savickas’, so seeing who comes out on top by the end of the season will be fun for viewers. Johnny Marshall is far and away Florida’s best backstroker, and with the ability to utilize Liendo on either fly or free of the 200 medley with Scotty Buff and Alexander Painter potentially vying for the freestyle leg of the 200 relay. The 400 medley relay should take a similar form with Marshall on back, Savickas or DeGroot on breast, Liendo on fly, and either Buff or Painter on free.

Florida’s freestyle relays will also need to find a replacement for Smith, which newcomer Marvin Johnson could fill. Johnson comes to Florida with 19.55/43.04 lifetime bests in the 50 and 100 freestyles. Putting young talent like Johnson on a team with Liendo, Buff, and Painter could make for a podium-worthy team at NCAAs and nurture the future of the Gators’ sprint freestyle group.

Florida’s 800 freestyle relay is due for a near-total reboot as Smith, Jake Mitchell, and Oskar Lindholm have all graduated, leaving sophomore Alexander Painter as the only returning member of the 2025 NCAA relay team. A potential 800 free relay lineup for the Gators could be Painter, Ahmed Jaouadi, Charlie Hutchison, and perhaps Gio Linscheer or Ed Fullum-Huot. It’s worth noting that Liendo split a 1:30.19 on Florida’s 800 free relay at SECs in 2025, though he is needed far more on the medley relays and the 200/400 free relays, so it would be difficult to justify putting him on the 800 free relay at NCAAs.

Total Stars: 27/40

2025-2026 Outlook

Despite the loss of Julian Smith, Oskar Lindholm, and Olympian Jake Mitchell, the University of Florida men are primed for another top-five finish at NCAAs and may even be able to improve upon their 4th-place finish in 2025, thanks to the addition of World Champion Ahmed Jaouadi as he assumes the mantle of the Gators’ distance star.

Florida is primed to continue its domination in sprint freestyle, backstroke, and butterfly, and has potential star power in the breaststrokes. The 200 IM may not be as strong an event for Florida as it was in 2025, though that could be seemingly offset by improved strength in the 400 IM. While the 200 fly is likely a zero-point event for Florida at even the conference level, Florida’s relays remain stacked and should look for approximately the same number of points among the five events–126 points in 2025 (and remember that the 200 medley relay was disqualified, removing another potential 40 points).

Florida finished 4th at the NCAA Championships in 2025 with 315 points. Had the 200 medley relay not been disqualified, they still would have finished 4th (355 points) behind Indiana, which raked in 459 points, though with strong additions in distance freestyle and sprint freestyle, the Gators could have a chance of placing in the top three. If Ahmed Hafnaoui does end up competing, that’s another massive boost that would help the Gators’ cause.

Men’s College Swimming Preview Index:

Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2026 College Swimming Previews: #4 Florida Men Chomping at the Bit for Top Three NCAA Finish